A shuttered convenience store on the Westside can reopen under an agreement prosecutors announced in court Wednesday.
Owner Moe Saleh can access the Westside Shop between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. if he corrects a number of code violations within 30 days and hires a security guard to deal with loitering, gambling and fighting that prompted the court to close his store in the first place.
“Some issues inside the building need to be taken care of within the next few days and I will do that,” Saleh said after the court hearing. He will return June 12 to Hamilton County Criminal Court to give Judge Tom Greenholtz an update.
The shop, one of the only food sources in the immediate area for Westside residents, had become a breeding ground for gambling, drug deals and other incidents between 2014 and 2016, prosecutors said.
Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston filed a petition in April to close the store, sparking an outcry among activists and community members who say the impoverished area is a food desert in need of a grocer, more city funding and education opportunities.