A troubled Macon store is getting another chance to sell alcohol if these conditions are met

Customers at a Macon convenience store have not been able to buy alcoholic beverages there since 2017 because of a rash of crime, officials say, including shootings and drug-dealing.

That restriction was lifted this week after the Macon-Bibb County Commission approved a license for the new owner of Super Gas in Unionville. The license comes with conditions from the county designed to get rid of the troublemakers.

The requirements requested by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office are:

• No loitering signs posted
• Alcohol not sold to anyone under 21
• No sales of single cigarettes
• Functioning security cameras
• Adequate lighting

Commissioners are mandating the conditions are met within 30 days or the license will be revoked, said Commissioner Joe Allen.

Commissioner Bert Bivins voted against the license because of “cause for some concerns” at the store that’s open 24/7.

The 2760 Montpelier Ave. store was known as M&M Grocery when Bibb deputies responded to 144 calls from 2016 through the spring of 2017.

The problems didn’t stop once the refrigerators were no longer stocked with alcohol. The sheriff’s office responded another 55 times between Dec. 20, 2018 and June 20, including multiple shootings.

People are known to gather outside the store for illegal purposes like selling drugs, Col. Henderson Carswell recently told commissioners. He said he doesn’t place blame on the previous owners for all the problems.

Sheriff David Davis said last week that there’s an opportunity for the new owner to change the atmosphere. That owner also told county officials he was willing to make any changes necessary for the license.

“It’s not going to be crime-free but we want to show some progress,” Davis said.

The county did deny one alcoholic beverage license on Tuesday. The reason is because the new owner of Pio Nono Gas & Food Mart failed to report pending racketeering charges on their license application.

This story was originally published July 3, 2019 at 5:00 AM.