OCEAN BEACH (NEWS 8) – Ocean Beach residents on Wednesday packed a Planning Board meeting to voice their opposition to a new Target Express that could be moving into their neighborhood.
Target is looking to put the store at what is now the Newport Avenue Antique Center on the 4800 block of Newport Avenue in the heart of the Ocean Beach district.
The Planning Board said research shows the stretch of Newport Avenue where the new Target Express would open is the sixth highest in alcohol-related crimes in all the city. If Target moves into the Antique Center, the board members said they would not give their blessing if they want to sell alcohol.
“Putting a Target on Newport is equivalent to putting a hipster mustache on the Mona Lisa,” said Ocean Beach resident Matt Baker.
The scaled-down version of a full-size Target is supported by those who remember the old retail stores back in the day.
“I see no reason that people who can’t drive to Target shouldn’t be able to walk to Target,” said Ocean Beach resident, Diana Webster.
For some, Wednesday’s Ocean Beach Planning Board meeting was to cut the head off for any corporate business coming in by denying alcohol permits.
“This meeting is specifically about alcohol,” said John Ambert, Ocean Beach Planning Board Chair.
The owner of the Antique Center explained he could not sell the $6.5 million building and did not want to parcel it out.
“It’s quite expensive, and what we saw was tap rooms and we did not want to be a landlord to tap rooms,” said the owner, Scott Allgaier.
The Ocean Beach Planning Board said the number of alcohol permits issued by the Alcohol Beverage and Control is 300 percent over concentration.
A Target representative attended the meeting and explained the store would tailor to Ocean Beach needs, and would not sell alcohol, but did not say never.
“We are gathering the facts and I think we can answer that further down the road,” said Lauri Jones, Target representative.
The board on Wednesday night approved it would not recommend any new off-sale alcohol permits in the Ocean Beach business district – this would impact restaurants.
In an e-mail statement to News 8, Target Corporate Public Relations Team said:
"What I can tell you is that at Target, we continuously explore possible locations for new stores. We are currently focused on new store growth with our small-format stores, which are smaller than our general merchandise Target stores and are located in dense urban and suburban neighborhoods, as well as college campuses. We are looking at a site on Newport Avenue in the Ocean Beach neighborhood, but at this time, we're not at a point where we can share any new store plans."
The public can sign the petition against the Ocean Beach Express Target online.
The closest Target to the proposed Express Target is located under two miles away. The deal could take six months to a year to finalize.
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