Omaha City Council denies Mega Saver’s liquor license request

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Mega Saver is a locally owned, minority business. It has 28 convenience stores in the Omaha metro.

They want to take the closed restaurant property that was Fuddruckers at 72nd and Dodge, and turn it into a convenience store with four gas pumps out front.

The building has been empty for almost four years.

Some neighbors question the merits of putting a convenience store in an already congested area. They ask why the neighborhood needs a place that sells liquor right across from the new central library that’s under construction -- as well as the crossroads project.

“It’s the most important intersection that donors have given so much funding to...to reimagine the city...to reimagine this conversation of various sectors of the city, Diana Failla of the Elmwood Park Neighborhood Association said. “Mega Saver doesn’t fit that. It’s not going to be a transformative landmark at any point.”

Tuesday afternoon during two hours of debate, several people -- many who work for Mega Saver -- told the council about the positives that come with working for the company and the impact it has on the community.

Opponents argued that only negative things come from a business that sells shots of liquor, called shooters, and attract a certain clientele.

Company representatives argued that it wasn’t a fair assessment at all.

“Some particularly vocal members of the community don’t want a Mega Saver there. It’s private property, it’s zoned, it’s legal and we have the right to have it,” Jim Carson, attorney for Mega Saver, said. “The commission should give us that license. We haven’t turned a deaf ear or a blind eye to the neighborhood.”

The company had agreed to better landscaping and limiting noise, along with speedbumps and stop signs. The proposed Mega Saver would be in councilman Danny Begley’s district. He requested that this store agree not to sell small cans of beer -- or any liquor 375 milliliters or less.

Begley voted against the liquor license, as did three of his colleagues: Pete Festersen, Ron Hug, and Juanita Johnson.

Brinker Harding, Aimee Melton, and Don Rowe voted to approve the license. It fails by a vote of 3-4.

Melton said that while this isn’t the ideal business she would put in this space, she didn’t believe her personal opinion mattered. She said that Mega Saver checked all the boxes to get a liquor license.

While it failed at city hall, the liquor commission will have the final say, and it doesn’t have to agree with Omaha’s vote.

Mega Saver says opponents confused what’s in the public interest with personal taste.

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