RENO — In a now-busy corner of downtown Reno, Devinder Dhillon wants to open a grocery store. But a matter of alcohol is getting in the way.

Neighbors around the future grocery shop at 330 Evans Ave. are concerned about the grocery store’s proximity to the Reno Sparks Gospel Mission alcohol rehab facility, prompting the Reno City Council to delay granting Dhillon a packaged liquor license. Dhillon and her husband plan to include a liquor section in their facility. The proposed shop sits with its back to the mission.

“Please don’t put liquor stores in our backyard,” Peter Vogel, executive director of Catholic Charities (formerly Catholic Community Services), asked the Reno council at its July 14 meeting. Catholic Charities operates the St. Vincent’s Dining Hall, which also sits in the proposed grocery store’s backyard.

“I have a lot of concerns with this,” Vogel added. “There are a lot of them who are our most vulnerable citizens … these people need a chance to recover.”

The council decided to put off the decision until its Monday meeting when the councilman who represents that ward, Dwight Dortch, could chime in on the matter. Dortch was absent from the July 14 meeting. Dhillon’s request was postponed once before when Reno City Council members agreed to move it from the June 12 meeting to the July 14 meeting.

“We are law-abiding citizens, we want to open our store,” Dhillon said.

Several in the Evans Avenue neighborhood agreed. The Dhillons went around to the nearby apartment complex and asked residents to sign a petition, voicing their need for a grocery store in the area. The effort netted 35 signatures. In addition, they operate three other convenience stores in northern Nevada and have been selling both alcohol and convenience store items for more than 13 years.

Still, concerns continued to swirl regarding whether or not the area near the Freight House District needed another place to buy alcohol.

According to Reno Deputy City Attorney Randy Munn, Dhillon’s other stores have been cited three times when undercover police caught employees selling alcohol to minors. The Dhillons’ ability to sell alcohol was suspended for two weeks as a penalty. The citations meant the family needed to go before an administrative court judge for a ruling before they could start asking the city for a packaged liquor license. The judge ruled in the Dhillons’ favor.

According the family’s lawyer, Byron Bergeron, each of the offending employees were either disciplined or fired.

Reno city code was on the Dhillon’s side as far as the rules for a packaged liquor license. It states that, “An alcoholic beverage package license shall entitle the holder to sell all alcoholic beverages at retail in packages only and only for consumption outside the establishment where sold.”

Munn explained further.

“People are claiming that this is next to a church (the Reno Sparks Gospel Mission) so the license cannot be approved,” Munn said.

He explained that, in fact, bars and other such places that sell alcohol for consumption on their premises must say away from churches and schools per city code.

“However, in this case it’s not the sale of alcohol for consumption,” Munn said. “That part of the city code prohibition would not be applicable. … It is a council’s call now.”

According to Dhillon, more than $150,000 has been invested into renovating the 330 Evans Ave. location where she and her husband are paying $7,500 per month for rent. The store is about 4,800 square feet and Dhillon claims that between 10 and 15 percent of store’s revenues would come from alcohol.

While Dhillon said she wanted to open the store as soon as possible, she did not have a firm opening date set.