GREENFIELD — A liquor store on the city’s north side is set to expand its small storefront into a 5,000-square-foot shop as part of a proposal to build a strip mall with room for two vendors.
Representatives from Eastside Development Group, on behalf of Crown Liquors, a company operating 28 stores across central Indiana, and Keihin IPT Manufacturing, which owns the driveway just north of the planned liquor store, presented the plan to build a new store 100 feet south of the current Crown Liquor location attached to the Speedway gas station, 2242 N. State St.
The company is renting the storefront, formerly named Lucky Liquors, from Speedway; representatives plan not to renew their lease and to close that store to make way for the new facility.
The plans for the site, more than half an acre, include the demolition of a long-unused red barn on the west side of the 2200 block of N. State St., said Chad Thompson of Eastside Development, the developer leading the construction plans. County records show Eastside Development purchased the property in 2007 for about $400,000.
Plans include a one-story, 5,000-square-foot store with another 2,550-square-foot space available for lease to other retailers.
The site would have 24 parking spaces, and a driveway off State Street will be built to give drivers access to the parking lot.
Evergreen trees and shrubs also will be planted around the building, and the old barn sitting on the property will be demolished if plans move forward. Site plans show a small sign would be placed on the east side of the building façade, facing drivers on State Street. A larger sign would be placed on the south side of the building toward the parking lot area.
The Greenfield Plan Commission gave initial approval to the developer in April 2016 for the proposed liquor store; Thompson said Eastside Development first filed plans for the site with the nine-member board in 2008.
“Some of you have seen this four or five times,” he said at this week’s meeting.
The south part of the property is owned by Keihin, but Eastside Development Group has rights to use that sliver of land, Thompson said. Disagreements between the manufacturing corporation and the developers about what could be built led to a civil lawsuit that has since been settled; with this week’s meeting, the development plan can move forward, Thompson said.
Zoning issues related to the access road leading from State Road 9 to the proposed strip mall had a hand in the delays as well, said Joanie Fitzwater, Greenfield zoning administrator.
Developers in the coming weeks will submit their construction plans to the state of Indiana for approval and obtain permits for construction from city and state officials, Fitzwater said.
