Commissioner Gallen Campaigns to Close Down Groover's Super Market in Palmetto

MANATEE COUNTY – A grocery and liquor store in a dangerous Palmetto neighborhood should be dealt with before a child is injured there, Manatee County Commissioner Michael Gallen told Manatee County's Council of Governments, gaining broad agreement from the city, school, fire and county officials who heard his plea on Tuesday afternoon.
 
A Manatee County Sheriff's Dept. background document Gallen obtained shows that there have been 1,734 responses by deputies and 100 by Palmetto police in the past seven years to Groover's Market at 111 17th St. W., east of US 41, and just outside the city limits.
 
The ramshackle, one-story market, badly in need of a coat of paint, draws unsavory people from the depressed neighborhood it serves. A battered sign out front announces its hours and adds, "God Bless You." 
 
For many, a guardian angel would be welcome at Groover's, which once had a peaceful reputation.  An unknown number of people have been stabbed, shot, beaten, raped, assaulted and drugged there. At least three churches are within a block, along with a tutoring service, a pre-kindergarten and a baseball diamond – Lincoln Middle School is about 100 yards behind the market to the east..
 
Council members variously suggested annexing the property to the nearby Lincoln Middle School, shutting off alcohol sales and shutting it down. One noted that it was a preoccupation of Mayor Larry Bustle of Palmetto before he was elected to the Manatee County Commission.
 

Groover's Market in Palmetto

"Is eminent domain a possibility?" asked Manatee County Commissioner Donna Hayes. "This seems to be a good case for eminent domain."
 
Noting that paramedics charge users for some ambulance and EMS responses, McClash wondered aloud whether fire districts could assess fees each time an emergency provider is called to the market.
 
Other officials, including Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant (no relation), noted that removing an alcoholic beverage license can be difficult under public nuisance abatement statutes. She would like it to become a part of the extended grounds of Lincoln Middle School instead, under a purchase or seizure action.
 
"I totally support doing something. ... We've had every department in the world out there,"  Commissioner McClash said.
 
"This is a very pressing issue," said Gallen.  "It's been a hotbed of drug sales and shootings," and he noted that its close not only to schools but churches. There have been frequent lock downs at nearby schools due to violence at the market, he said.
 
"I don't want there to be a day when a child is injured before something is done,“ added Gallen. In a recent incident, a 52-year-old woman, Wanda D. Oaks, was kneecapped - shot in the knee - there in January. As police responded, they heard three shots and found 23-year-old Chauncey McDuffie nearby with bullet wounds in his arm and body. No suspects were caught.
 
”If a child is hurt“, Gallen said, ”the public will ask, 'Why didn't our government officials do something?'"
 
The Palmetto Youth Center, at 501 17th St. W., where computer classes and team sports are offered to keep kids safe throughout the year, is also just a few blocks away.