State Grants New Liquor License to Store Moving 475 Feet Down Street

Over the objections of residents, state officials have granted a new liquor license to a Colorado Street business that wants to relocate 475 feet away.

The license will allow owners of Colorado Liquor, 412 1/2 W. Colorado St., to sell alcohol at their new location, 470 W. Colorado St. The store is to open in about two weeks.

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control granted the license to store owner Sang Jong Cheun on the recommendation of a state judge.

Cheun decided last year to move after his lease was not renewed, business associates have said.

In January, however, ABC officials denied his request for a license at the new location after objections from residents in the 400 block of West Colorado Street and from the principal of nearby Thomas Edison Elementary School.

Several residents submitted a petition to licensing authorities, signed by 35 residents opposing the move. They complained about traffic and litter, and said that despite the short distance involved, the move would add another liquor store to a half-block cluster that already has two convenience stores, a market, a drugstore and a restaurant, all of which sell beer and wine.

Cheun appealed. During a hearing in June before Administrative Law Judge Paul Hogan, a business associate of Cheun’s testified that trash would be collected diligently at the new location.

In a ruling June 28, Hogan recommended granting a new liquor license. He said potential traffic and litter problems were unlikely because the store was moving only a short distance, said Mary Ann Presswood, an attorney for the state liquor control agency.

Despite its initial denial, the department decided to follow Hogan’s recommendation and on Aug. 23 granted the license, Presswood said. Residents did not appeal the decision, she said.