Superior Auto, Inc. after receiving approval from the Lebanon Board of Zoning Appeals on Monday. Ready to move to the west side of the city.
The used auto sales company now operates at 2437 N. Lebanon St, but that property is being sold to develop Taco Bell and a coffee shop.
Superior Auto applied to the city for conditional zoning to allow the sale of used cars at 1317 W South St., also known as Ind 32. The auto dealer has already begun rebuilding the vacant, dilapidated building, company representative John McDougall told the board.
Cork and Keg Liquor has a door to the east, and there are already auto-related businesses in the immediate area, including The Body Shop, an AutoZone Auto Parts and Pomps Tire & Auto Service. In addition, much of Casey’s convenience store is expected to be located to the west, said Ben Bontrager, planning director for Lebanon.
Bontrager said conditional use only applies to Superior Auto at the time it leases the property, and subsequent tenants must apply for conditional use to operate a used car sales business.
Superior Auto, a national company, has a new inventory, nothing out of date from 2013, McDougall said, adding, “We think we’ll be a nice addition to that aisle.”
The area along Ind 32 from Interstate 65 toward downtown is now known as the Lebanon Market Gateway because abandoned commercial buildings were torn down to make room for new development.
Several commercial buildings have since gone up, including a second Lebanese Burger King just west of the Superior Auto site. Most are located between the Interstate and Ransdale Road, and Superior Auto is just east of them.
One Beef-A-Roo, an Illinois-based restaurant chain, has applied to be located on the site of the former KFC, on the north side of Ind 32, on Ind 1360, in the same block.