There is a little grocery at the corner of Wayne and Keowee, four blocks from my house. As someone who was raised on pita bread, fresh made hummus, fresh figs, dates and olives- Halal market is one of my favorite things about living in South Park.
It’s tiny- even compared to a mini-mart, with cans piled high, coolers overstocked, and a lot of things labeled in Arabic- which is fine with me. It’s not dirty- but, if you look closely, it’s well worn. Shopping is done with a hand-basket- you couldn’t get a shopping cart through an aisle if you tried.
For the last year- the guys have been planning a big move- across the street to the rear of the old Rush Package Delivery building- where they run a used car lot. They’ve bought all new coolers, fixtures- and have been ready to move for at least 6 months.
So what’s the hang up? The City of Dayton.
Apparently, even though a grocery their size isn’t required to have a public bathroom- the City is demanding a handicapped accessible bathroom. The additional cost- $9000 to knock out a block wall to make the two current bathrooms into one large enough to accommodate a wheel chair.
I had to fight the same type of battles 18 years ago to open my ad agency in a boarded-up former corner grocery store. My favorite bit of stupidity was the city trying to require a lighted “exit” sign over the front door- this in a building with 4 doors to the outside within 15 feet from the front door- all with large glass windows in the doors.
If it isn’t obvious where the exit is, or where you came in, if there was a fire, and you can’t figure out how to get out- it’s Darwin’s way of saying you don’t deserve to be in the gene pool. Which is what we need to do with our building inspectors- who are causing more grief than good, furthering the reputation of Dayton as a pain-in-the-ass place to try to do business.
What do you think?