Does Greenfield Need Another Convenience, Liquor Store?

The City of Greenfield has 19 locations where people can buy alcohol products. Those include gas stations, convenience stores, liquor stores and grocery stores.

City officials are pretty sure they don’t want a 20th, at least not where Vimal Kapila wants to put one.

Kapila has proposed to turn about half of the former Cardinal Fitness building, 8401 Layton Ave., into a 5,200-square-foot liquor store known as Martha’s Vineyards. The store would also sell some groceries and cigars and have a small deli.

The first public proposal for the site since the building was vacated over the winter is not expected to get a favorable recommendation from the city’s Planning Commission on Tuesday, but the request could go through the public hearing process this summer.

In notes prepared for that meeting, city staff questioned if the city is becoming saturated with similar businesses. Larger grocers/retailers like Sendik’s, Walmart and Pick ‘n Save are all within a short drive from that location. On Layton Avenue alone, there are nine places consumers can purchase alcohol, including Andy’s gas station, which Kapila operates at the corner of Layton and Highway 100.

City staff is also concerned about turning the building into another multi-tenant strip center.

The building has been vacant since the winter when Xperience Fitness, which had replaced Cardinal Fitness in spring 2011, moved out.