Wal-Mart receives building permit

By Rod Rose/The Lebanon Reporter

July 23, 2008 01:19 am

— Lebanon — Excavation work will begin this week for an $11 million Wal-Mart Super Center in Lebanon.
Company officials were issued a building permit Monday, said Kristi Spencer, office manager for the Lebanon Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. MacDougall Pierce Construction, Fishers, is the principal contractor, she said.
Spencer said the contractor estimated it would take about 12 months to finish the 156,000-square-foot Super Center.
Construction had been stalled for several months over rights to drill a drainage tunnel under a CSX Railroad line west of the new building. Drainage plans were approved by county officials earlier this month.
The Lebanon City Council split, 4-3, on zoning changes to permit construction of the Super Center. Then Mayor Jim Acton broke a 3-3 tie at a Feb. 12, 2007 council meeting.
Wal-Mart will demolish the 19-year-old existing store after the Super Center opens.
During negotiations for the Super Center site, city officials were concerned about development of 20-acre parcels north and south of the Super Center.
Monday night, the Plan Commission voted 5-3 to give Triton Development preliminary approval for Kensington Crossing, a 70-lot subdivision on the northern parcel.
Voting yes were Keith Campbell, Jim McVey, Bob Waples, Jack Bland and Lyle Hunter. Kevin Krulik, Emmadell Strugis and Steve Large voted no. None gave reasons for their votes, Spencer said.
A subdivision was first proposed at the site in 2006, but no plat was approved. Since then, the city has new rules regulating residential construction. Triton Development LLC will be allowed to use the city’s 2000 guidelines, but “is being encouraged” to meet the current rules, according to a report by Jackie Turner, a planning consultant who has a contract with the city.