Lee's site to become video store (5/11/05)

A Portland restaurant which has stood vacant for a few years will soon be razed to make way for a new video store.

The Portland Planning Commission approved a special exception request Tuesday to allow a video store at 915 N. Meridian St., the former location of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. The lot is currently zoned as neighborhood business district.

Bill Milligan, Jay/ Portland Building and Planning administrator, said rural Ridgeville resident Gary Keller, who currently owns the property, asked for the special exception. Keller plans to sell the lot to a company which will tear down the restaurant and build a 5,220 square foot video store at the back of the lot.

Randy Fisher of Fisher Real Estate and Auction, the realty company through which the lot is being sold, said he talked to people who live near the vacant restaurant and they were pleased that a video store would be on the lot rather than another restaurant.

There was no opposition to the request from those in attendance Tuesday evening.

Fisher said this morning, construction is expected to begin in June. The video store franchise is based in Atlanta, he said.

Also Tuesday, the board approved special exception requests to allow a Portland man to again sell used cars and a rural Portland man to open an automobile repair shop.

Ralph Grapner, 503 E. High St., Portland, would like to sell cars at Vernon Schmidt Garage, 525 N. Meridian St. Grapner said he has been selling cars on the lot for more than 50 years, but not recently.

Grapner had to seek a special exception to allow him to sell cars again because the lot is located in a central business district.

Milligan said Grapner realized he needed the special exception when he applied for a license to sell cars. Grapner sold cars on the lot for several years, then stopped a few years ago. To sell cars again, he had to apply for a new license, which requires the property to be zoned correctly, Milligan said. The business was open before the zoning ordinance was created in 1985, he said this morning.

Before the board members voted, BZA vice president Ron May said Grapner has been parking vehicles in the right-of-way along North Street, which is not allowed.

Also, city attorney Bill Hinkle who co-owns The Portland Shoppes, which are located across the street from Grapner’s business, said he felt too many cars were being parked on the lot.

The board approved the special exception request as long as Grapner no longer parks vehicles in the right-of-way and has no more than four cars for sale on the lot at one time.

A special exception request by John A. Witt, 1207 East 300 North, also was approved. The automobile repair shop will be located at Witt’s residence, which is currently zoned as an agricultural district.

Before the board made a decision, Witt’s neighbor, Dave Reinhart, 1432 East 300 North, said he was concerned the property could be turned into a junk yard.

Witt said he usually only has about three cars at a time to repair. Most of the cars are repaired on the same day they are dropped off, he said.

Hinkle said the board could approve the special exception request and limit the amount of cars — other than Witt’s personal vehicles — allowed on the property at one time.

Milligan said he has not received any opposition letters from neighbors regarding Witt’s request.

The board approved the request as long as Witt has no more than 10 vehicles at his business at once.[[In-content Ad]]