We, the undersigned citizens of the City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, hereby respectfully petition the Mayor and the City Council of Tuscaloosa to disapprove and reject the application for an alcohol license for a restaurant, bar and/or distillery proposed to be operated at 1306 Queen City Avenue, Tuscaloosa, Alabama (the former site of Sam Jackson’s Emporium ).

My opposition is based on the following:

• The proposed restaurant and patio/ courtyard can hold up to 900 people. There are only 27 parking spaces available on the property.
• Any restaurant with an ABC license can legally serve alcohol until 2 and 3 a.m., just like a bar, and can legally admit under-age patrons without checking identification. Given the location of this business within walking distance of college student housing, it will likely attract multitudes of students, both of legal age and under-age.
• For many years, residents in proximity to 1306 Queen City Avenue and downtown have experienced a multitude of problems caused by intoxicated patrons leaving downtown restaurants that serve alcohol. The City’s response to these complaints has not led to a reduction of these incidents, which have included dangerous criminal behavior such as break-ins in the middle of the night to occupied homes.
• It is my belief that granting an alcohol license to a restaurant of this size, in this location would only create more problems for this neighborhood by:
  • Creating additional noise from traffic and/ or loud (possibly intoxicated) pedestrians;
  • Creating additional traffic congestion and safety hazards for nearby residents and patrons:
  • Creating additional parking requirements that will encroach on residential streets and cause late night noise;
  • Create litter, including beer bottles, cans and cups in the neighborhoods and park;
  • Attracting rowdy and boisterous patrons who will disrupt the peace of the neighborhoods and create unsafe situations;
  • Further spreading out the already thin resources of the police who will have to monitor the area;
  • Increasing the potential for crime (home break-ins, vandalism, public intoxication, DUI, trespass) in a residential area