A regulation to help protect Rochester neighborhoods from the trouble sometimes associated with corner stores has been repealed because the city did not have the authority to implement it.
For the past three or four years, the City of Rochester regulated retail operations that sell alcohol, tobacco or tobacco paraphernalia, lottery tickets, or firearms, considering them “high-impact” businesses.
These businesses were not allowed to operate in areas zoned for residential or in small-scale neighborhood districts, says Brian Curran, the city’s corporation counsel. Think of small corner stores with housing on both sides and behind them, he says.
“The limitations were intended to strike a balance,” Curran says, so that people could still get the products they want, but neighboring homes were shielded from the impact. Some corner stores are magnets for drug dealing, loitering, and other problems.
But while researching court rulings, Curran says, the city learned that it doesn’t have the authority to restrict alcohol sales; it’s the state’s job under New York’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.
From now on, stores that sell alcohol but none of the other targeted items will not be labeled “high impact.” The label still applies, though, if the store carries alcohol and one or more of the other products.
And stores that carry tobacco or tobacco paraphernalia, lottery tickets, or firearms remain regulated, high-impact operations.
The error was discovered, Curran says, after a court ruled that the city had improperly limited bar hours in some districts. Subsequent research revealed that the city was also out of step with the state on the issue of alcohol sales, he says.
Kyle Crandall, president of the Beechwood Neighborhood Coalition, says that the regulation change is a setback for city neighborhoods and that he wonders why the city’s legal department didn’t realize the regulation was improper in the first place.
This article appears in Dec 30, 2015 – Jan 5, 2016.
A: I believe the courts ruled arbitrarily on this issue, considering the state regulates a lot of things: barbershops, beauty salons, daycare centers, vehicle repair shops, etc. Does that mean that all these uses are now in danger of being ruled “off limits” for municipal regulation?
B: New York is supposedly a “home rule” state with a great deal of power and responsibility granted to local governments. Just a few years ago, courts upheld the power of local governments to ban hydraulic fracturing. So towns and cities can ban fracking but can’t regulate bars and convenience stores?
C: That being said, if drugs and loitering are the problems, why can’t the city go after drugs and loitering, rather than clumsily trying to use land use regulations (and punishing decent businesses in the process) to address behavior?
Actually the city can control the sale of alcohol as the state law allows municipalities to set hour regulation for the sale of alcohol. So if the city wants to limit alcohol sale to 9pm then they have to do it for all establishments that sell alcohol. The problem is that they used zoning to do this and this is not okay. Zoning is for the size, placement, and use of buildings in general, not for the control of internal operations of these structures. Judges have ruled on this several times and the state comptroller has this question as an FAQ on their page. The city knew this when they passed the legislation but they were doing something illegal because people wanted something. So in the end it cost over $300,000 to have this law.
The craziest thing about this is that there is an excellent way to deal with corner stores which do things wrong and that is law enforcement. 3 illegal sales of tobacco, alcohol, or lotto tickets, will have the business and the site lose the right to sell these products. The same is true of SNAP or food stamps. If residents want these stores gone go in and take a picture of a loose cigarette being sold or an underage person buying alcohol. The police also need to do stings on this. Only this way will the corner stores be cleaned up and then council can stop passing illegal laws which cost the city hundred of thousand of dollars.
My understanding is that New York State allows COUNTIES to set hours for alcohol sales, not MUNICIPALITIES.
Otherwise I agree, it was a misuse of the zoning law and there are other, better, ways to address the problem.
Unfortunately, there have been shootings outside of some corner stores. Why blame the store when the real problem is that some of the steady customers are posturing with guns. I don’t even blame concentrated poverty. No one, rich, poor, or the police, should be walking around with a gun. Target practice or hunting is the only legitimate use.
Mike Bruton says: ” No one, rich, poor, or the police, should be walking around with a gun. ” Are you serious? Citizens need to arm themselves now more than ever! I’d like to see Merchant’s Grill with ‘concealed carry’ guards in answer to recent events. In 1776 the battle cry was “The British are coming! To Arms! To Arms!” Today the battle cry of too many cowards is “The terrorists are coming! Turn in your guns! Don’t defend yourselves!”
Unfortunately, the city will do what it wants even if it is illegal, it targets those that do not have the ability to fight back. Everyday the city takes away your rights that our veterans have died for. They know it is illegal, they don’t care and from the mouth of city council president Louis Giess, ” sue us if you don’t like it.” There’s an old saying, ” you can’t fight city hall”. It’s a lie, We did, and won! Tenants can say no to letting the city rummage through their apartments. The city ended up buying the Nelsons the house that they rented because the city tried to have them arrested for denying entry into their apartment. Stand up for your rights people, it is easier to keep our rights than it is to get our rights back. The sad part, there are attorneys on city council and they vote yes to this illegal crap.
Just so everyone knows the city had to change the law concerning alcohol and they did so. They are still acting illegally with cigarette and lottery sales . These New York State licenses also superced little old Rochester law. Again, from the mouth of city council president Louis Giess, ” sue us if you don’t like it.” We will! If anyone is denied a permit to sell cigarettes or lottery tickets, contact THE New York State Coalition of Property Owners & Businesses.
Where’s the class action law suit for all the revenue stores lost because of the illegal law the city enforced. Come on people, you lost alot of money. The city made you close when earlier than you had to, the city denied you permits that they did not have the right to deny. They are bullies and they won’t stop until you stand up to them.
$300,000 is a large sum of tax payer money to lose. Blame rests squarely on City Council and the city’s legal department. City council over-reached, and one of two things happened: their legal councillors did not strenuously try to deter this illegal legislation-which makes me question what are we paying these attorneys for??? Or, the City’s legal department tried to all ends, to deter city council from enacting this legislation, but were ignored. Which ever it is, the tax payers, small businesses and citizens of this city were short-changed.
Rochestarians don’t need continuously encroaching legislation. I don’t want to live in a “Nanny City”. I might want to go to the store at midnight to buy smokes and beer. I don’t want law-makers enacting laws which don’t allow me my rights as an adult citizen of this nation. I am an adult-Key word – Adult. I am capable of making decisions for myself. If I chose to be a nuisance to my community, arrest me. If not, leave me alone to enjoy the rights I should be enjoying as an American citizen. And, I mean all my rights.