Mark M. Gong—THE DIAMONDBACK Anuj Kapur, the owner of Number 1 Liquors, has refused to move his store despite continued pressure from the developer of the apartment complex University View, politicians and city officials. Business has thrived since stu

It’s a story in the vein of David versus Goliath.

Crouched in the hulking shadow of the freshly bricked and newly opened University View apartment building, Number 1 Liquors’ parking lot is cracked and scored from years of use and the store’s sign flickers and buzzes.

Since the monstrous apartment building was devised several years ago, the liquor store has been seen as a minor imperfection in the grandiose plan of the city’s North Gate Park project, with a Baltimore-based development company attempting to buy out the property for demolition.

When developer Otis Warren & Co. approached the College Park City Council with plans to develop a luxury apartment building complex, they promised an entrance to the complex complete with turn lanes and a traffic light onto busy Route 1. The only problem with the company’s plan was the proposed entrance to University View was to run straight through the center of the tiny liquor store.

But despite efforts to close the small liquor store, it continues to stand strong, bringing in more business than ever, owner Anuj Kapur said.

“It’s great for the kids who live there,” Kapur said. “They don’t have to drive or anything, they just walk the 10 feet.”

University View residents said the liquor store was a great convenience to their building.

“Nobody has to drive to go get alcohol, so in some ways, it’s safer,” said junior aerospace engineering major Julie Trout, who moved into the building when it opened in August.

Even after University View opened, regulars continued to trickle in the small door of Number 1 Liquors to pick up weekend necessities or grab a six-pack after work.

Kapur said the steady stream of regulars was augmented by new faces from the apartment building. Some people unwilling to take the short trip downstairs even called for delivery.

“We’ve sent a few deliveries to [University View],” Kapur said. “I think once it gets colder, we’re going to start delivering there a lot more because kids aren’t going to want to come out as much.”

Kapur, who graduated from the university in 1992, took over the liquor store about nine years ago, after it had existed in the city for 40 or 50 years, he said.

He said developers told the council they were in talks with him concerning the liquor store, which he said was a lie. Otis Warren & Co. has repeatedly told The Diamondback they did not lie to Kapur. Representatives from the company did not return at least seven calls for comment for this story.

“They never came to me,” Kapur said. “All of a sudden, people started coming in, saying, ‘Hey, I read in The Diamondback you’re moving,’ and I was like, ‘What the hell?'”

Kapur said developers tried to force him out through eminent domain – a process that allows a government body to seize private property for public use. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires compensation be made to the property owner in the process.

Kapur said he fought the proceedings, saying he wasn’t interested in relocating.

“I told our lawyers, and they took care of it,” he said. “We weren’t interested in selling.”

State Sen. John Giannetti even met with Kapur and asked him to relinquish his property, though he wasn’t successful.

Though the liquor store still stands, council members said its presence is a nuisance.

Current traffic patterns require cars making left turns into the complex to bypass the main entrance and make a left past Berwyn House Road. Cars also cannot make left turns onto Route 1 from the main entrance.

Mayor Stephen Brayman called the current traffic situation around University View “dysfunctional.”

“The current access is a public safety hazard,” Brayman said.

The traffic situation caused the council to recommend at a work session that Otis Warren & Co. ask for a continuance on their plans for a 10-story office building, which would roughly be located across Route 1 from the McDonald’s restaurant.

“Adding more traffic to the existing access doesn’t seem wise,” Brayman said. “An office competing with dysfunctional access won’t be popular.”

Residents of the building said traffic around University View is annoying, but not impossible to navigate.

“It’s definitely livable,” junior aerospace engineering major Jenna Spitale said. “You have to wait a while sometimes to make a left turn, but it’s not that bad.”

The council said they will talk to county and state agencies to determine the best way to alleviate traffic problems and would hold off on progress until January.

But one way Kapur assures the problem won’t be solved is by adding a light at Navahoe Street through the liquor store’s property.

“We didn’t sell and we never will,” Kapur said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Contact reporter Sam Hedenberg at hedenbergdbk@gmail.com.