Public hearing held on beer, wine sales at new McCandless Sheetz

Sheetz is promising to place strict controls on the sale of beer and wine at its new location in McCandless, a company spokesman said during a public hearing on a request to transfer a liquor license to the store.

State law allows liquor licenses to be transferred from one location to another within a county’s limits as long as it is approved by the municipality where the license will be used, said Mark Kozar, an attorney representing Sheetz.

A public hearing is a required part of the process of transferring the license. Council will have to vote on whether to approve the request.

The company wants to transfer a license from a closed Pizza Hut along Saltsburg Road in Penn Hills to the new McCandless location, which is along Perry Highway.

The new store is being built across the street from its current location because there is not enough room to replace the structure with one of the larger stores the company typically builds.

The shell of the new building is complete and work is being done on the store’s interior and exterior with plans to open in August.

The Altoona-based company has opened 600 stores in six states, including 224 in Pennsylvania.

Most Sheetz stores sell beer and wine, Kozar said.

The McCandless store will be open 24-hours, but beer will only be sold from 7 a.m. to 1:45 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and from 9 a.m. to 1:45 a.m. on Sundays.

State law requires the sale of wine to cease at 11 p.m. on any day of the week, Kozar said.

“The only place beer will be located in the store is in the ‘beer cave,’” Kozar said. “It’s not on the shelves or stacked on the floor. And once sales cease for the night, the beer cave is locked.”

The store also will limit sales to no more than 192 ounces of beer, which equals two six-packs of 16-ounce cans or bottles.

No more than four bottles of wine will be sold at a time.

Kozar said while the state requires Sheetz to sell beer for on-site consumption if it also sells it to go, the company discourages customers from drinking on the premises.

“Only two beers per person per day will be sold,” he said. “While people are allowed to drink a beer in the store, it’s not something we advertise.”

Customers can only drink beer in the inside seating area.

Sheetz also has a “100% carding policy” the requires employees to check the age of every customer buying alcohol.

The company also takes steps to prevent customers from buying alcohol for underage people, Kozar said.

“If a group of two or more people come up to the register (to buy alcohol) we card each one of them,” Kozar said. “If any of them is underage, no sale is made.”

Council President Kim Zachary pressed Kozar to provide more details about what the company does to prevent problems associated with alcohol consumption.

“Our whole goals to make sure the integrity of the surrounding environment is maintained so we don’t have a lot of noise and rowdiness going way into the middle of the night,” she said. “There are houses very close to the Sheetz and we want to be sensitive to the homeowners around there.”

Since Sheetz announced plans for the new store in 2018, residents who live near the new site have opposed its construction, citing concerns that the a larger store closer to their homes will increase their exposure to gasoline and diesel fumes; add more noise, light and traffic congestion; make it more dangerous for children waiting for school buses; lower their property values; and disturb the neighborhood’s tranquility.

To address residents’ concerns, the town added a number of other requirements to the project.

Being sensitive to surrounding residents is Sheetz’s concern, too, Kozar said.

Councilwoman Shelly Sponholz also wanted to know what measures are taken to prevent patrons from disturbing neighbors.

“I know Sheetz has very excellent protocols for sales and safety,” she said. “But since it does enjoin a residential neighborhood, how do employees monitor exterior parking lot safety?”

In addition to a system of surveillance cameras placed inside and outside the store, a Sheetz employee on every shift is assigned “to monitor and control the property, Kozar said.

Zachary questioned why some of the details Kozar outlined about controlling alcohol sales and the company’s loitering policy were not included in the documentation supplied to council.

“I’m not seeing it (in the documents,” she said. ‘I’m not finding these things you’re telling me about.”

Kozar said all the items he outlined are part of the company’s long-standing approach to managing alcohol sales.

“It’s been our policy since we started selling beer 12 years ago,” he said. “Perhaps I didn’t send over all the parts of the policy, but I’m telling you what I’ve told over 100 municipalities. I’m authorized to speak on behalf of Sheetz and all of what i’ve told you is true to the best of my knowledge.”

Kozar said he would will provide township officials with the requested documents.