Citgo’s 24/7 Plan Rejected, Again

City zoning commissioners turned down another proposal to allow a Kimberly Avenue gas station and its convenience store to be open 24/7 after neighbors argued that the cost to public safety outweighed the benefit to late-night workers. 

The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) voted unanimously Tuesday night to bar the Citgo and Sam’s Food Stores located at 14 Kimberly Ave. from staying open past 11 p.m. Hill South residents have advocated against extended hours for over a year on the grounds that 24/7 service would impede broader efforts to revitalize and secure the neighborhood.

The convenience store, currently open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., sells premade sandwiches, groceries (including fruit and nuts), and hot foods, as well as cigarettes, vapes, and tobacco. 

Owners Majid El Sayed and Mahmood Alrqibat had previously run the store 24/7 until a cease-and-desist letter mandated an 11 p.m. closure last year. They requested a special exception for extended hours in the spring of 2024, but the BZA unanimously rejected the proposal. 

They returned Tuesday night with ​“clean hands,” according to attorney Ben Trachten. He said they had complied with the cease-and-desist order, made a concerted effort to call police and paramedics when needed, and improved the store’s security system. 

The owners also solicited community feedback on extended hours, including at April’s meeting of the Hill South Community Management Team. Based on those discussions, said Trachten, the owners proposed the following conditions in exchange for extended hours: hiring private security between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, allowing the police department access to the store’s security cameras, and affixing more LED lighting outside of the store. 

The application before the BZA Tuesday night was submitted by gas station owner K Brothers LLC and attorney Trachten, and sought a special exception to ​“allow use between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. (gas station and convenience store providing hot food and groceries)” in a General Business (BA) zone. 

Their application included over 200 signatures and 80 letters of support, many from overnight workers. ​“When I wake up at 3 [or] 4 in the morning to go to work,” said West Haven resident Barbie Ruotolo, ​“I have no convenient food options.” Another remote worker, Upendra, emphasized that many people lack the transportation to get food elsewhere.

More than ten Hill residents opposed extended hours, arguing that the convenience store already attracts loitering, prostitution, and drug use.

“As far as we can see, security [would be] there for the clerk,” explained Angela Hatley, communications director for the Hill South CMT. ​“They [wouldn’t] do checks outside of the building, which is what we’re concerned about.” 

Lifelong Hill resident Jose DeJesus cited a recent incident of the store’s cameras being ​“ripped off” to argue that extended hours would exacerbate existing security concerns. 

Citing last year’s data, Sgt. Jasmine Sanders said, ​“Violent crime [near the store] was occurring during the hours that they’re requested to stay open.” She added that the number of calls made to the police more than halved when the store began closing at 11 p.m.

Hill Alders Evelyn Rodriguez, Kampton Singh, and Carmen Rodriguez echoed those safety concerns Tuesday night.

Carmen Rodriguez, who works at Yale New Haven Hospital, questioned the store’s benefit to overnight workers. ​“We’re not going to walk out at midnight because we have time constraints,” she explained. ​“We bring our own food when we work in the hospital in the evening,” adding that her coworkers rarely visit the store even during daylight due to safety concerns.

Trachten responded that the owners cannot reasonably be held accountable for broader neighborhood crime. ​“The fact that the neighborhood is suffering is not an issue that this business can solve,” he explained. ​“We can only take responsibility for our site.”

Lifelong Hill resident Ronald Heyward agreed. ​“You can’t judge the guys that own the place and say it’s their fault,” he said, adding that he would feel ​“comfortable” going to the store in the middle of the night. 

Miguel Pittman, the owner of Sandra’s Next Generation on Congress Avenue, countered by stating that his business has successfully deterred loitering. He then accused the owners of not putting enough ​“energy” towards addressing safety concerns.

John Lockhart, who owns property in the Hill, proposed a middle ground: a six-month plan for 24/7 hours, conditional on an improved security system and partnership with the police department. ​“The goal would be to take this property – which can already be troublesome during the day – into a beacon of civil order,” he said. 

Note: On Wednesday, Lockhart clarified that he intended to propose a six-month plan, wherein the store aggressively pursues security measures to clear up crime around the area. ​“If the property could not only contain its own issues, but also calm crime in the immediate vicinity of it,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting, ​“then you’re looking at a situation where, at the end of this six month plan or something similar, you might be able to give consideration to the nighttime operation.” On Wednesday, he said that he did not think there should be a trial period for 24/7 operations. He also said he did not use the word ​“trial” in his testimony.

Hill residents adamantly rejected the idea. ​“Don’t do a trial on our lives while [Lockhart] moves to his home [in Avon] and leaves us in disarray,” said Carmen Rodriguez. She added that she does not believe the gas station’s owners and proponents are fully invested in the well-being of the Hill South community. 

Hatley agreed. ​“Where [the owners] live and where I live are two different cities, as far as I’m concerned,” she said. (One of the owners told the Hill South CMT in April that he lives in Wooster Square. The holding company that owns the gas station property, K Brothers LLC, is based out of Rocky Hill.)

Sgt. Sanders rounded out the rebuttal, sharing that the department lacks the overnight resources to constantly patrol the store for loitering, street racing, and excessive noise on top of handling very urgent calls. 

Without any further discussion, the board voted unanimously to deny the application.