YOUNGSTOWN Business owner protests options

The store owner wants to add a full-service kitchen.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Glenwood Avenue business owner wants to know why he is being singled out and prevented from selling alcoholic beverages on a street that has numerous bars and carryout stores.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections heard a protest today to options on the May primary ballot from Cyrus Ghassab, owner of J & amp;B Foods at 2606 Glenwood Ave.
Ghassab failed to prove the petitions seeking the options were filed improperly, so they were allowed this morning to remain on the ballot.
Ghassab used his time in front of the board to express his dismay at why his business is being specifically targeted by the options.
Explanation: Councilman Michael Rapovy, D-5th, who organized the petition drive, said there were numerous problems at Club Mystic, which used to be located a few doors from Ghassab's business, that prompted neighbors to ask him to render Precinct 5-V "dry," or alcohol free.
Club Mystic has been closed for more than a year, leaving J & amp;B as the only business in that precinct with a liquor license.
Ghassab's business sells beer, wine and individual shots of alcoholic beverages, as well as groceries.
People can drink their alcohol purchases at a small table with two folding chairs at the rear of the store.
Ghassab said he plans to put a full-service kitchen and move the table as far away from the rest of the store as possible.
What owner said: Ghassab said there have not been any shootings or other problems at his store, something that cannot be said of other establishments on Glenwood.
"His business is near a church and a school and there have been bad problems in that area in the past," Rapovy said, but he was unable to offer any evidence of violence at Ghassab's store.
Rapovy said Ghassab knew when he purchased J & amp;B three years ago that residents wanted the precinct dry.
The options seek the elimination of the sale of alcoholic beverages.