The owners of Jay’s Corner Store have 60 days to close the 1040 S. Broadway business following a vote Tuesday by the Poplar Bluff City Council.
A public hearing was held to determine if the business should be considered a nuisance, putting it in violation of city ordinances.
The revocation was approved on a 4-1 vote. The business owner, Jay Kikani, can seek action in Circuit Court to have the decision overturned, according to city officials.
“Over the past couple of years, essentially there’s been a volume of complaints and calls to our police department regarding Jay’s Corner Store,” Mayor Steve Davis said opening the meeting. “These calls have ranged from a variety of things that jeopardize... public safety. It’s my understanding there’s been overdoses there, fights, and a variety of other types of situations.
“It has made it to this point because apparently many people feel like it has been a nuisance or they wouldn’t have contacted the police department.”
Owner Jay Kikani, attorney Matt Edmundson, who represents the business, and Ward 5 representative Robert Smith spoke against the revocation. Smith cast the sole ‘no’ vote on the revocation.
Business owners have made attempts since a Feb. 23 meeting with city officials to improve the situation, Edmundson said. This has included changing their hours, adding security and improving lighting at the location, according to the discussion.
Smith moved to extend a 90-day probationary period to the business, in light of the changes. The motion failed for lack of a second.
“It appears as though they’ve done a lot of things to make this work,” Smith said. “We really don’t want to see a business leave town.”
City manager Matt Winters, police chief Mike McClain and council member Jerrica Fox presented information to the council in support of revocation.
Fox, Davis and council members Chris Taylor and Barbara Horton voted in favor of the item. Council member Shane Cornman was absent, citing a conflict of interest on the matter and recusing himself from the discussion. Council member Lisa Parson was also absent due to a medical issue, Davis said.
Information from Poplar Bluff Police Chief Mike McClain was presented to the council on law enforcement response to the location in 2022 and 2023.
Officers as of April 10 had responded to 39 calls for service at the location, 18 calls were dispatched and 21 calls were considered “on-view.” There were nine case files drawn and four arrests made.
In 2022, officers responded to 173 calls, according to information presented. This included 79 calls dispatched and 94 calls “on-view.” Officers drew 32 case files and made 14 arrests. The total took 143 man hours, the police department reported.
McClain shared that on-view calls are “proactive enforcement actions in which an officer or officers initiate a call. These calls increase in proportion to the level of citizen complaints, observed criminal activity, or a repeated pattern of criminal presence.”
Edmundson said the business had not been given proper written notice of the type of issues the city believed made it a nuisance.
The owners have made multiple changes since a probationary period was put in place Feb. 23, he said.
A letter from Winters indicated the city did not believe there had been substantial improvement since that time, Davis said.
“Since 2022, when most of these allegations happened... They’ve put up lighting, which they paid the city to do. They’ve slowed their hours. There’s a continuing process of banning these ... people who have trouble with the police. They update that on a monthly basis. Their security cooperates with the police,” Edmundson said.
He said the number of police calls sounds bad, but the number of police walk-throughs shouldn’t be counted against them.
“Nobody here is looking at how many fender-benders Walmart has,” he said.
No one from the city has contacted his client since Feb. 23 to talk to them about the actions they have taken, which have been significant, Edmundson said.
The owners shared with the city at the meeting what actions they would be taking, Fox said. It was because of those factors the original probation period was given, she said. A representative of the store’s security firm and the owner of a neighboring business also spoke in support of the owners.
Fox shared that the job of the city is to bring businesses, to Poplar Bluff, not close them.
“That’s what we wanted to see,” she said. “We wanted to see positive change. That was our ultimate goal, to make it a safer place for the citizens of Poplar Bluff.”
Based on the call volume and the calls received by the council members from the public, it was felt it was necessary to bring the item forward, she said.
It falls under a nuisance for the city, Fox said.
Smith argued that he has seen lots of lighting and security added, in asking for a 90-day extension to see review the changes. The measure failed to receive a second.