‘A threat to public safety.’ Why Macon officials are trying to shut down this store, again
Bibb County Sheriff David Davis stood in front of cameras last week holding a Bible after suspending a local gas station’s alcohol license amid rampant crime. He’d found the Bible inside the gas station and used it to make a dramatic point to Macon citizens.
“Instead of doing some of the nefarious actions that happen at this store, maybe [the store owners] ought to take up this book here, or… whatever religious guidance book they have, and study that a little bit, and this might be a more peaceful corner,” Davis said.
Bibb County authorities argue that the convenience store, M&M Grocery on Montpelier Avenue, exacerbates violent crime in the area. Davis and Macon Mayor Lester Miller ordered the store to close in September.
The store reopened under restricted hours after Superior Court Judge David Mincey said closure would be “an extreme and hopefully unnecessary action” in a November hearing. The county filed another motion to shutter the store again that will be heard Thursday.
Evidence and court filings
County leaders have pulled liquor licenses and filed nuisance lawsuits against several businesses over the past three years, part of an effort to reduce violent crime.
A “nuisance” is defined generally in Georgia’s official code as “anything that causes hurt, inconvenience, or damage to another,” regardless of whether the act is legal.
The business has to stop the nuisance or shut down if a public hearing determines they’re at fault, according to the nuisance law in Bibb County’s official code. That’s the motion the county filed against M&M, and the cause of Thursday’s hearing.
The county controls approval of alcohol licenses so revoking them does not require a hearing, though a business can appeal the revocation of the license to the Bibb County Commission, Davis said.
M&M Grocery appealed the decision when their alcohol license was first revoked last year, Davis said. When it comes to those appeals or the court hearings about business closure, evidence of the nuisance is key.
The evidence behind M&M’s closure in September and the motion to close it this week both stem from police reports, 911 calls and similar data.
The first closure simply cited past crimes and drug culture that surrounded the store. The new order to be heard Thursday alleges more specific violations.
The county cited evidence of 72 gunshots fired around the store since May 1 in their motion to close M&M. Multiple 911 calls also pointed to the store staying open past 11 p.m., the order said.
“This neighborhood…this community…is plagued by the activities occurring around this store, and it’s on us to do what we can to protect people,” Miller said in a statement. “The owners got a second chance to operate in a safe manner and to be better members of the community, but they have chosen to be an ongoing threat to public safety.”
Davis said security camera footage also showed the store staying open past its curfew.
Fatal shootings were the root of other closures:
- The downtown bar The Thirsty Turtle made headlines in 2021 when Davis revoked their liquor license after a fatal shooting before they closed three months later.
- Another convenience store, Friends Food Mart on Houston Avenue, closed last year after three teenagers died in shootings there within a two-month span. They later reopened under similar restrictions to M&M.
- Davis ordered Rodeo Bar, a watering hole in south Bibb near Rocky Creek Road, to close following a fatal shooting in September and revoked their alcohol license.
Budget motels around the Interstate 475 interchange at Eisenhower Parkway were also the focus of nuisance complaints filed by former Bibb County district attorney David Cooke in 2020.
