DAYTON — A once-beloved supermarket has now been an eyesore for neighbors for eight months, and they’re ready for the city to clean up the rubble.
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The community has called the remains of the Cornell Meat King Supermarket in Dayton an eyesore for the last eight months.
As reported on News Center 7, neighbors are going to have to wait even longer before the rubble and trash are removed.
As previously reported on News Center 7, the supermarket burned down in October 2024. Now, the building is a pile of rubble that takes up most of its parking lot.
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Last week, fences surrounded the mess to keep people out, which were removed to begin the clean-up process. But now, the city doesn’t know when it’ll start.
Steve Gondol with Dayton’s Department of Planning and Development said his team was in contact with the owner of the property throughout the last two months of 2024, trying to help them understand what their options were for removing or rebuilding.
Gondol said he didn’t hear from the owner’s attorney for nearly three months at the start of 2025 and began criminal filings.
Husam Ali Safi was the owner of Cornell Meat King Supermarket and his attorney said he was absent from their first court date on June 4 because he was visiting his ailing father.
“He submitted a request for continuance to the court. My client’s absence in no way affected or slowed the pace of the cleanup,” Safi’s attorney said.
Safi’s attorney provided a statement to News Center 7 stating his client is the title owner of the property, but he sold the property on land contract to an investor several weeks before the fire.
Because of this, Safi’s attorney said the equitable title was passed to a different party and that gives Safi an ‘absolute defense to code enforcement violations,’ under Ohio law.
“Still, in good faith, my client attempted to clean the property many months ago, but the City of Dayton requires commercial property owners to treat every ounce of debris as asbestos, including the piles of debris dumped on the property by neighbors long after the fire,” Safi’s attorney said.
The costs of clearing up the lot became quite expensive, but Safi’s attorney said he eventually raised the money and hired a contractor.
“The City of Dayton takes 14 days to issue a demolition permit and then has a 10-day waiting period before work can begin,” Safi’s attorney said.
Gondol said they were given the all clear to start cleanup, but the cleanup crew showed up without proper equipment.
“They were to do that and come back Tuesday, today, to continue the removal or to start the removal,” Gondol said.
But when he arrived on Tuesday, the crews weren’t there.
“We get [neighbors’] frustration and that’s why again, we’re going to court, holding them accountable, trying to get this process started so that they can move on and the site could have a potential reuse,” Gondol said.
Safi’s attorney said in the statement to News Center 7 that the fire was likely due to unsafe electrical issues caused by the tenant in the property.
“My client commenced litigation last fall to recover for the fire damages. My client is a responsible property owner and looks forward to his day in court,” Safi’s attorney said.
Dayton resident Jonetta Miller said she grew up going to her grandmother’s house behind the former supermarket and was sad when it burned down.
She lives a few streets over and said she remembers the day it went up in flames.
“I was shocked because I didn’t expect that. For the whole building to burn down like that, it was kind of a shock,” Miller said.
Miller said she’s tired of seeing the remains and the trash that residents have dumped in the pile.
“It looks a mess. Like you see people post it up there, and you see people dumping stuff up there,” Miller said.
Miller said she wants whatever takes the buildings place to bring a fresh look to the area.
“Whatever they choose to do to it, like I said, hopefully it brings some type of life to the community,” Miller said.
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