By Tom Fudge
 Ahmed Malinomar is leading the opposition to a liquor license for a store that’s right next to a mosque on University Avenue. | Photo Credit: Tom Fudge |
There’s a corner of University Avenue near 54th Street that’s home to a store called University Market. It’s also home to a Buddhist Temple, a mosque and an Islamic parochial school.
So when the market applied for a beer and wine license, and got a favorable recommendation from the police department, a lot of neighbors rose up … many of them Somalis.
Ahmed Malinomar, a Somali community leader in San Diego, said liquor licenses are magnets for crime and loitering, and they create even more troubles for low-income neighborhoods like City Heights. He added that the number of liquor stores in City Heights is depressing.
“Just drive down University Avenue and count how many liquor stores,” he said. “How many do you need?”
This week, the City Heights Community Planning Committee responded to intense pressure from people who live near the store and voted to oppose a conditional-use permit to allow the market to sell alcohol.
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