2021 OCTOBER 9 ISSUE HERE’S WHY ‘LOCAL MOTIVE’ SITE HALTED

Byrne says the restaurant plans to offer breakfast until 2 p.m. “including fresh juices,” and lunch/dinner items such as “salads, sandwiches, pasta and other entrees” until the doors close at 9 p.m. Byrne adds “we will also have ice cream and locally inspired desserts like apple pie.”

Also of interest is the Corrales-focused nature of the space. Byrne says, “Because we’re proud to be a part of the Corrales community, we’ll feature things that make our village unique —a special wall dedicated to the Pet Mayors of Corrales, as well as a community tile project to be featured on the exterior wall facing Corrales Road.  We’ll also look for opportunities to collaborate with the school, church and other businesses to ensure we form an integral part of our community.”

Community will be the focus of the restaurant, and to that end, Byrne says they would “like to offer beer and wine to enhance that fabulous experience.” According to Stout, this might create further delays for the opening. She predicts a second public hearing will be necessary after the October 20 meeting “to discuss the alcohol issue.”

The restaurant’s proximity to Corrales Elementary School may mean the founders will need special permission from Albuquerque Public Schools to serve beer and wine. At the corner of Perea and Corrales Roads, the restaurant site sits just across the street from the school. APS Associate Superintendent Amanda DeBell says there is a State statute that requires at least 300 feet distance between a school and a business selling alcohol.

This statute, number 60-6B-10, is found in the 1978 Compilation of the New Mexico State Statutes Annotated.  There it is stated: “A license may be granted for a proposed licensed premises if a person has obtained a waiver from a local option district governing body for the proposed licensed premises. For the purposes of this section, all measurements taken in order to determine the location of licensed premises in relation to churches or schools shall be the straight line distance from the property line of the licensed premises to the property line of the church or school.”

As clear as this document seems, it could actually be a cloudy issue that might just come down to the location of Local Motive’s front door. This was the case in 2012 for a Giant convenience store, located in Santa Fe.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that the store wanted to begin selling alcohol, but the City Council voted against giving them a license because of the store’s proximity to Sweeney Elementary School. The store appealed the decision, and the case went all the way up to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, where a judge decided the store could indeed proceed with selling alcohol because the front door of the establishment was more than 300 feet away from the front door of the school.

Obviously, a cafe selling beer and wine is very different from a convenience store selling liquor. In Byrne’swords, “Our goal is for Local Motive to be a place to gather, to socialize, to share food, a glass of wine, and stories.  It’s most certainly not a bar.”

The village will be watching and  waiting for this new venture to come rolling in.