MACON, Ga. — Concerned community members says their neighborhood is overrun with liquor gaming and convenience stores and they want Bibb County commissioners to take a closer look at a new store asking for a liquor license.
An old bank on Pio Nono Avenue is now being turned into a convenience store.
The owner applied for an alcohol license, which the county commission needs to approve before they can sell alcohol.
The Westside Neighbors United Group would like county commissioners to deny the license. A few representatives from the group attended Tuesday night's meeting.
The group is led by George Crawley and Erion Smith.
"So we look just as nice as the north side of town and other parts of our community," Crawley.
A few representatives of the Westside Neighbors united group led by George Crawley and Erion Smith.
"First off, I want to say enough is enough," said Smith
They're asking Bibb County commissioners to deny a license for a new convenience store on the corner of Napier and Pio Nono Avenue.
"I'm not anti-business. I'm not anti-alcohol, but I just think we need a diverse selection of business," said Smith.
Smith lives near Pio Nono Avenue and has two kids. He says the area is overrun with stores that offer very little convenience and whole lot of vice and temptation within a 2-mile radius. He's spotted 12 convenience stores and 10 of those 12 sell alcohol.
Dierdra Jordan says she left Macon for a period of time and when she came back she found businesses had vacated the area and stores that sell alcohol tobacco and gaming stand in their place.
"We want to fix things that are broken we don't want to add to a problem we're already trying to fix," said Jordan.
The group didn't get the denial they wanted, but county commissioners did hear their pleas and opted to table the license to have their legal team review the ramifications of denying a license.
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