A vacant former Nob Hill grocery store at the center of a debate over whether the city should step in when commercial landlords let empty storefronts fester will soon become a church.
But community leaders who protested other plans to fill the site that had become blighted and infested with rodents over the last two years said the latest proposal is hardly an improvement for the struggling retail center.
“I was disappointed, I think it’s inappropriate for a church to be inside an anchor store in a strip mall,” said Issa Ajlouny, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 33 years and spearheaded a push to get the space filled. He fears the church will attract homeless people to the shopping center.
“Will that make things worse?” Ajlouny asked. “Is that fair to the other stores in the center?”
