Council Member Darius G. Pridgen has heard many complaints about food stores in the Ellicott District during his first 11 months in office.
From the sale of marijuana-shaped candy and synthetic pot to loitering to selling loose items, like cigarettes and diapers, the city lawmaker believes store owners need to be more accountable.
Pridgen will meet this morning with business people in his district who hold city food store licenses.
"I am pro-business. I want businesses to come to the Ellicott District," Pridgen said during a meeting of the Common Council's Legislation Committee on Oct. 11. "...However, I want business owners to be responsible."
Pridgen sent a letter to licensees about the meeting, being held at the Pratt Willert Community Center.
City lawmakers, who hold the power to grant food store licenses, regularly set conditions for the licenses to include bans on the store selling anything that would be considered drug paraphernalia.
Pridgen has said he wants the owner of each store applying for a license in his Council district to appear before the Council prior to a vote being held.
--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN
(Photo by Charles Lewis / Buffalo News Staff Photographer)
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City of Buffalo | Common Council | Darius Pridgen
