NIU VALLEY — Despite community opposition, a 7-Eleven Hawai'i convenience store has obtained approval from the Honolulu Liquor Commission to sell alcohol at a store it plans to build on East Halema'uma'u Street.

Construction, pending building permit approval from the city, is likely to start in late February on the site, which once was home to a gas station. The 24-hour convenience store and accompanying new gas station would sell alcohol but not after midnight.

In November, before the sale of alcohol was approved, residents in this mostly older community wrote letters to the commission objecting to the alcohol sales and the store's 24-hour business. The residents said the store would create traffic at all hours of the night and cast too much light into homes across the street.

In addition, residents were upset that representatives from the store came before the community after obtaining the Liquor Commission's approval instead of before.

The community is considering an appeal with the Liquor Commission, asking for reconsideration of the approval. The commission normally doesn't receive such appeals, and said if the community wants to challenge the ruling, residents would have to file a lawsuit.

The main offices of 7-Eleven did not return phone calls seeking comment.

However, the real-estate agent representing the chain's 60 Hawai'i stores said the company would have come before the community had someone asked.

"7-Eleven is one of the best corporate citizens in the community," said Steve Sofos, of Sofos Realty. "The company helps the community so much in charities and is very conscientious about what the community thinks of it."

Sofos said the company was not aware of the community's concerns about its sale of alcohol and its 24-hour operations. When the King's Cathedral, the church that now owns the former Niu Valley Shopping Center, approached 7-Eleven, the goal was to provide conveniences to the community that had been taken away when the Times Supermarket went out of business, Sofos said.

At a recent Kuli'ou'ou/Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board meeting, residents spoke of how they wrote letters of opposition to the Liquor Commission.

"There are homes across the street from the store," said Jeannine Johnson, a Niu Valley resident. "There are always people hanging around outside 7-Eleven. We are a small neighborhood and we are very into keeping people out who don't belong."

Before King's Cathedral converted parts of the old shopping center into its sanctuary, the center was anchored by a limited-hour Times Supermarket, several restaurants that are still operating, a swim school and a Union 76 gas station.

Niu Valley resident Marty Plotnick said he believes residents received insufficient notice of the company's plans.

"The paradox is that the community had said it needed a convenience store because residents missed the old Times market," Plotnick said. But, Plotnick said, "most of our residents here are either very old or very young. We're not boozers here, and we don't want the store to sell liquor."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.