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Vineville neighbors upset about store proposed at old Bateman and Wade building

In 2014, the store owner was arrested for alleged illegal gambling, and it closed down.

MACON, Ga. — On Clayton Street near Vineville neighborhood, a building sits boarded up and abandoned. 

Roger Bloodworth lives off Roger Street. He says, "It is an eyesore, as you can see."

The building is the old Bateman and Wade grocery store. People living around it prefer its doors to be closed. 

Neighbor Jennifer Zimmerman says, "We would have drug packets on our lawns every single day."

Macon attorney Lars Anderson says, "Viewed in its best light, it was a public nuisance. Viewed in its worst light, it was basically a haven for crime."

In 2014, the store owner was arrested for alleged illegal gambling, and it closed down.  

Vineville neighbors say the store was known for bringing unwanted crime close to home. "They brandished guns at our neighbors," says Anderson. 

Homeowners with families concerned for their children. "Worries about guns, because guns went off in that store," says Zimmerman. 

Now, there is a proposal through Bibb County Planning and Zoning to open a new store in the same building. 

"It was a lot of noise, tremendous traffic. It's not a neighborhood store that's wanted," says Bloodworth. 

According to documents from Bibb County Planning and Zoning, they would include a small produce section with fruits, eggs, milk, and bread. 

They would also have the "usual convenience store food" like chips and other snacks. 

The documents say the applicant wants to sell beer and wine when licensing is approved. 

However, Anderson says, "That's not a place where you need beer and wine sold. That's not a place where you need young people hanging out with guns."

Now the Vineville community will fight to keep the proposed store out of the neighborhood. 

Lauren Morrill-Ragusea says, "We don't believe anything they have to say when it comes to what they're going to do with that building. We can only go off what we've seen, and what we've seen has never been good."

In the proposal, the applicant said they plan to paint the outside of the building and clean up the brush and debris so that it's "no longer an eyesore to the community."

The applicant also proposed to have a "lottery retailers status" at the store. 

It will go before the Planning and Zoning board on December 9th. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Terminal Station off Cherry Street. 

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