COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Columbus city crews boarded up The Family Market convenience store in the King-Lincoln neighborhood Friday morning. City Attorney Zach Klein said the store has a history of problems. “Cocaine was being sold right along with milk and eggs, and alcohol was being sold to minors,” Klein said.
City inspectors also detected structural integrity issues with the building so severe that they were concerned the floor was going to cave in from the weight of the coolers.
Klein’s office obtained a temporary restraining order arguing the market was operating “for the purpose of trafficking, possessing or abusing controlled substances and drugs.”
“There’s been evidence, significant evidence of drug dealing and drug activity as well as violence and those two complains are not good for a neighborhood,” Klein said.
According to court documents, Columbus Police narcotics detectives obtained evidence of underage alcohol sales and during a compliance check at the business last May, city inspectors found 42 grams of cocaine.
Susan Howard has lived in the neighborhood for about 10 years, Howard was not thrilled that a store she relied on for supplies was suddenly boarded up.
“Now I got to go all the way down there,” Howard told NBC 4 pointing to another market a couple of blocks away.
Howard admits the Family Market did attract a rough crowd – especially at night. “I really haven’t seen no drugs when I go there,” Howard said. “There used to be a lot of guys in the front at nighttime and I would be scared to walk there at night.”
Even so, she says, the neighborhood needs stores within easy walking distance.
Klein says the needs of the neighborhood are considered before shutting down businesses. “When balancing these convenient opportunities for food access, which are important, against the drugs, the violence, and the crimes that are taking place, sometimes we do have to take the necessary steps to shut them down to improve the quality of life for everybody.”
A hearing on the city’s complaint has been scheduled for March 19th.
