It was predicted.
The Shreveport City Council did not listen.
A recent council vote eliminated the physical separation requirement for the sale of hard liquor at retail establishments.
Opponents warned that the hard liquor floodgates would be opened.
So guess what?
The Family Dollar store located on West 70th Street and Mansfield Road has applied for a hard liquor application.
The council will soon review recommendations from the Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) on new ordinances affecting liquor stores.
The council enacted a six-month moratorium for January to June on the issuance of liquor licenses to allow the MPC to make recommendations on revision of the city's alcohol ordinances.
Unfortunately and inexplicitly, the MPC did not complete this task timely.
The MPC delay was further compounded by Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith's decision to strictly enforce the city's archaic alcohol ordinances that had been violated by many retail stores for decades.
The council was also pressured to amend some of the alcohol ordinances to avoid a touted, but not substantiated, delay in renewal of alcohol permits.
The MPC recommendations for alcohol ordinance revisions should have been made to the council for consideration before the council revisions.
Altogether, the MPC, the Shreveport Police Department and the city council failed to properly hand an issue that has been troublesome for many years.
This conundrum could have been, and should have been, avoided. There is plenty of blame to be shared.