Church Wine
Walgreen’s Receives City Approval to Sell Beer and Wine Within Feet of a Church and School, Application Sparks Debate Over Process

By Eleanor Mcculloch

The Miami Beach Board of Adjustment gave the Walgreen’s location at 4049 Pinetree Drive the green light to sell beer and wine on its shelves, even though city code prohibits the sale of alcohol within 300 feet of a church or school.

Just eight feet away to the South, All Soul’s Episcopal Church houses both — the religious institution as well as the Montessori Day School.

Although the Board of Adjustment was presented with a letter from John Tidy, the rector of that church, expressing minor concern over Walgreen’s application for a variance, several residents sent in letters disapproving of the variance, which the board considered at their Friday, June 4 meeting.

In a first step before applying for a beer and wine license from the State, Walgreen’s representatives, seeking local approval, submitted a hardship letter to the city stating that “customers have requested that Walgreen’s provide a one-stop shopping experience where they could purchase a wide variety of products,” similar to other locations, city documents show.

Staff recommended granting the variance.

“We’ve seen in these Walgreen’s stores and other large national chains that their staff is required to undergo extensive training in responsible vending,” explained Planning Director Richard Lorber.

However, some recent discussion has erupted in City Hall pertaining to the evolution and definition of a “hardship,” and the possibility of revising the standards by which a variance is deserved.

“Basically the variance criteria that’s articulated in the code is generally tailored to evaluate land variances or variances related to real property,” explained Board Member Alex Annunziato. He added the question is “how does that relate to a distance separation” such as the one the board was considering.

“So the Commission is going to promulgate rules or new standards that we would use to evaluate distance separation criteria because there are other considerations that need to be looked at when considering alcohol sales and distance separations,” Annunziato said. Some other criteria that could be considered are whether there are other establishments that sell alcohol within a certain distance, existing uses, and the age of the children at the neighboring school.

“We did have a successful meeting in front of the Land Use [and Development Committee] and they voted to recommend to the full commission that [BOA] retain jurisdiction over these files,” Annunziato said.

Board Member Sherry Roberts, however, inquired if the issue didn’t illustrate a code that needed to be changed.

“If the regulation stinks then take it off the books,” Roberts said.

However staff maintained that retaining jurisdiction over the issue and allowing variances gave the city some control over what establishments would be able to get away with.

“The purpose of the variance is to give people due process with respect to whether the application of a particular regulation is unfair,” Annunziato said.

However Roberts saw the details of the current issue before them as a little different, and likely one that should be less open to interpretation, specifically if a business that sells alcohol is allowed within 300 feet of a school.

“On some level it does make sense that if you have a lot of variances for the same code, you would normally try to change that code to either permit that or at least address that in some way,” agreed Planning Director Richard Lorber.

“However we’ve also argued that … the staff and the board reviewing these on a case-by-case basis results in positive oversight. We don’t want to throw out the baby with the bathwater,” Lorber said.

Lorber cited applications by owners wishing to open bars on Española Way and Drexel Avenue which were denied due to the vicinity to Fienberg-Fisher school, and the countless applications that never even make it before the BOA because they “were not going to get that far through the process,” of approval, Lorber said.
Walgreen’s, however, is one example of an establishment that has made it all the way.

Attorney Dwayne Dickerson, representing Walgreen’s, explained that the company planned to utilize 28 square feet of the roughly 14,000-square-foot store to sell beer and wine. He also added that store personnel will be trained in the responsible sale of alcohol. And because the City of Miami Beach is not empowered to regulate the sale of single containers of beer, the company would volunteer not to sell them.

“We’ve also forged a partnership with your police department … in order to mitigate loitering or negative behavior,” Dickerson said. In addition to the letter from Tidey which expressed some concern about potential loiterers, Roberts added that the public had sent in nine letters in favor of and 11 letters against the approval of the application, although eight of the nine letters in favor came from the same person.

“Basically they’re saying that religious restrictions are more priority than financial gains,” Roberts said. “One says ‘we have a beautiful neighborhood with young families and seniors, we do not wish to attract the wrong crowd with beer and wine sales.’”

Another letter asserted that the Walgreen’s liquor store on 67th and Collins, which sells alcohol, attracts the wrong type of crowd.

“I’m going to vote against this,” Roberts said. “And I’m a business woman, and in sales … so I understand totally the financial [element] here.”

Board Member Lior Leser also added that the structure of the Walgreen’s itself could provide “shelter” to homeless individuals who also frequent the church.

However, Board Chair David Lancz was confident that the company would “act in concert with the police,” to mitigate any loitering issues. The item passed 6-1 with Roberts dissenting.

The Walgreen Company will be required to present a progress report to the board in three months, and any changes in ownership would require further approval.

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