MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday, July 2nd voted 14-0-1 to deny a license for a Dollar Tree store to operate on Martin Luther King Dr.
Residents living in the Bronzeville neighborhood in Milwaukee were excited about redevelopment plans. They thought a grocery store was coming to the area -- but instead, the owner of the building where the store was headed efforted opening a Dollar Tree store there instead.
Residents weren't happy, and neither was their alderwoman, Milele Coggs.
Coggs released the following statement after Tuesday's vote:
Coggs says the redevelopment of the Bronzeville neighborhood is centered around an African-American culture.
"Spent the last year-and-a-half building what we thought was MLK Supermarket. We saw the grocery store at King Drive and North Ave. as an opportunity to enhance the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the owner has seen fit to go back on what he promised the neighborhood, and we started seeing signage for Dollar Tree," Coggs said.
Coggs and those who live in the neighborhood say they feel misled.
"We were looking forward to the grocery store. We need some fresh fruit and not processed things. Dollar Tree doesn't have that. It has microwave things. We need healthy foods in our neighborhood," a Bronzeville resident told FOX6 News.