A group of residents and leaders held a demonstration outside a soon-to-open tobacco and convenience store in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, Monday to protest what they say are too many similar shops in their community.
“Like any community, we want economic development but not this type of economic development,” Seat Pleasant Mayor Kelly Porter said outside the Friendly Mart Tobacco 24/7 store on Martin Luther King Jr. Highway.
Those attending the protest said there are too many liquor and tobacco stores in a concentrated area of Prince George’s County, from Glenarden to Seat Pleasant near the D.C. line.
“It is sinful! It is sinful that we can allow these tobacco stores to come to our community, but we cannot get a grocery store, not one, in this community for our people,” Maryland Sen. Joanne Benson said.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Darcy Spencer over at NBC4
