Is 24-hour store with alcohol sales good for North Midtown?

A report at Midtown Patch two weeks ago concerning the return of a service station to the North Midtown area caught some neighbors by surprise.

The Peachtree Circle Shell, located at the edge of Ansley Park at the corner of Peachtree Street and Peachtree Circle, shuttered its doors in 2011.

But now a Decatur businessman has submitted plans with the City of Atlanta to open “Uptown Station on the half-acre parcel at 1521 Peachtree Street. According to the plans, the store intends to be open 24 hours and will sell beer and wine.

The former Peachtree Circle Shell at that location would typically close at 11 p.m.

Twenty-four-hour convenience stores have a reputation for attracting among other things — criminal activity, loitering, litter, noise pollution and increased traffic.

The idea of an establishment located so close to the Ansley Park neighborhood  that sells alcohol 24 hours a day has not pleased all neighbors. As soon as the Oct. 24 story was posted at Patch, readers began expressing their dismay through emails and phone calls.

“The neighbors biggest concern is a 24-hour food mart next to a residential that serves (alcohol),’’ Penelope Cheroff, the Neighborhood Planning Unit-E Chair who represents Ansley, said at this week's NPU meeting. “All of our residents are concerned.”

The station will be given a retro look and there’s the possibility that the car wash facility in the back of the property could at some point be sub-leased to a coffee shop with outdoor seating.

Representatives from Uptown Station are set to go before the Midtown SPI-16 & SPI-17 Development Review Committee next week to discuss plans for store renovation.

After that, Uptown Station reps will go before the Ansley and NPU-E boards, where it is expected they could be met by nearby residents concerned over the notion of 24-hour store that sells beer and wine.

What are your thoughts of this station possibly being allowed to be open and sell alcohol 24 hours a day?

Is this a good or bad thing for this area of Midtown?