Kettering man wants to open Dayton convenience store. Why the city said no.

A proposal for a new convenience store in southeast Dayton was derailed after neighbors and city staff lodged objections related to traffic and crime.

The high-traffic store, proposed for 1300 Wyoming St., is inappropriate for the residential area and property’s lack of direct off-street parking would be an issue, said Mike Schommer, chair of the Southeast land use committee.

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Residents of the Twin Towers and Walnut Hills neighborhoods have a quality of life they wish to maintain, and past commercial retail businesses contributed to crime problems and disturbances, Schommer said.

“This is not the right business for this neighborhood,” Schommer said.

The store failed to obtain the approvals it needed from a city board to move forward.

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Kettering resident Hussain Hussain asked Dayton’s Board of Zoning Appeals to approve a use variance so he could open a retail convenience store in an empty commercial space at the corner of Illinois and Wyoming streets.

The store would sell food, drinks, snacks, lottery tickets, money orders and other items. The store also submitted an application for a liquor license, neighbors said.

Illinois is a one-way street, which means there’s no direct access to the lot in the rear of the building, so customers would have to navigate residential roads and alleyways just to park, city staff said.

Some people don’t have cars, and the store would provide easier and more convenient access to food and other items for kids and residents who don’t want to have to walk all the way to Wayne Avenue, Hussain said.

Hussain said the new business would not lead to traffic congestion and headaches because most customers would arrive on foot. He said the business would have new lighting and cameras to make the property safe and secure.

But the city received several letters from neighbors who opposed the new store, staff said. Some citizens said the roads are narrow and residential and would be harmed by commercial traffic.

“They also noted that previous uses in that area that were commercial did have a lot of crime, robberies, vehicles getting backed up on Wyoming Street,” said Abigail Free, city of Dayton planner.

Since those businesses closed, the neighborhood has seen a decrease in crime, noise and disturbances and citizens feel safer, Free said.

Schommer said the building can be put to other productive uses, and there are other businesses that sell the same kinds of products the store would several blocks away on Wayne Avenue.

“We do not want a high-traffic business to affect the lives of residents of Twin Towers and Walnut Hills,” he said.

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