Residents in Denver’s Northeast Park Hill neighborhood worry plans for a liquor store near a burned-out shopping center will determine whether the surrounding area thrives or once again becomes a magnet for gangsters and degenerates.
They have joined Councilwoman Carla Madison, who represents the area, to try to fend off the liquor store for fear it would harm efforts to replace the now-vacant Holly Shopping Center, 3363 Holly St., with a charter school.
Kelly Lotterhos, a paralegal for the law firm representing the woman who wants to reopen her liquor store, said their client was a victim of arson and wants to reopen a smaller store than she operated before.
“She served the community there for three years,” Lotterhos said of King Bok Yang, a Korean immigrant who lists her address as in Centennial.
A showdown is expected tonight during a hearing to consider Yang’s application. The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building in the conference room of the Excise and Licenses Department.
Opponents have gathered more than 400 petition signatures against the liquor store. Yang’s supporters have gathered 146 signatures.
Prosecutors allege members of the Crips gang burned the shopping center to the ground in May in retaliation for the slaying of one of the gang’s founders. The fire gutted six businesses, including Yang’s Park Hill Liquors, which she is seeking to reopen nearby on East 33rd Avenue.
Neighbors say the alleged arson highlights their struggle against blight and crime (subsequently, operators of a grocery market in the center were convicted of trafficking in stolen goods).
Now, residents say, they have a unique opportunity for new development at the site, near the Pauline Robinson Branch Library and the Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center. The nonprofit Urban Land Conservancy has expressed interest in buying the land to pave the way for a school, they say.
Those seeking to block the liquor store say that six businesses with liquor licenses already operate within 1.16 miles of Yang’s proposed store.
For Cleotha Lee, 74, who has lived in the area since the 1970s, the destruction of the shopping center provided a respite from the ne’er do-wells she said once gathered there.
Lee recalled how she tried to steer clear of the Holly on her daily walks. If she went by the shopping center, she said, she would find herself stepping gingerly to avoid broken bottles and glass. She recalled being subjected to catcalls and panhandling.
“I’d just tell them, ‘I’ll say a prayer for you,’ ” said Lee.
After the fire, Lee said she finds herself walking by the vacant site more often.
Still, she said, she walks with a cane — just in case she has to ward off an attacker.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
