Beechmont Neighborhood Association

Thorntons Expansion

Meeting 5/22/06

This meeting was held last night, at Beechmont Community Center from 7-9 PM, Matt Thornton, who is the CEO of Thornton's was there along with about
50 neighbors and interested parties.
Thornton's proposes to demolish the present station at 4500 S. 3rd and replace it with a brand new structure and pump stands, this structure will have
a brick facade with a stacked stone base, it will have 10 pump stands vs.the present 8, the station will be about 5000 sq feet, and is an upscale version of
what is there now. This will cost about $1.2 million to build, the architects are Bayus / Evola and are located here in Louisville. If you want to see what this
will look like, there is a station open at 131 in Clarksville, Indiana and another under construction at 10th St. and I 65 also in Clarksville. To provide for the
larger building and also improved turn radius at the pumps, the new station would be set back on the lot and the pump stands moved to allow a 20' space
between the end of the pump and the store. As it will be a new facility it will have to meet the more stringent noise, lighting and parking codes enacted
since the old store was built. Thornton's wants to improve and expand this location as it is doing a very good business volume there.
To build this facility, they feel they need to obtain the property at 4508 S.3rd Street to use for a buffer zone, the owner of this property is amenable to
their offer and wants to sell. The present store has the original plot of land that was zoned C-1 and also has a buffer lot that is zoned R-3, the buffer lot is
partly paved but has no building on it. They propose to change the present buffer lot to C-1 and make the property at 4508 S. 3rd the new buffer space, this
would mean demolishing the house that is presently there and paving part of that land. It will take about 14-16 weeks to demolish the old store and rebuild
it.
Objections to this plan by the neighbors encompass two main issues:
1.) Some people; including some of the people who were on the BNA board when this store was first built in 1988, feel that the demolition of the property at
4508 3rd street presents a further encroachment of commercial business into a residential area and that this will only encourage more change to the
residential nature of the neighborhood. They would like Thornton's to rebuild the store on their present footprint, Thornton's stated that this was not
economically viable for them as they need the added land for additional retail and turning radius.
2.) Another hot issue was that of trash generation and that the store was not currently doing enough to combat litter on it's property and some skepticism
that they will do a better job in future. A neighbor also mentioned the need for Thornton's to maintain their property (mowing and garbage clean-up)
between their fence and the midline of the alley behind the store, as this is a city ordinance. Thornton's says they will try to do a better job in this area and
will stress the importance of this with their manager and their contract mower.
BNA is seeking input on the neighbors opinions on this expansion, so we can formulate a position when the zoning board is asked to rule on this
variance. We will not have the final say in this matter, but the zoning board definitely will seek our opinion. There will be a follow-up meeting on this in 2
weeks to discuss this again. If you have an opinion please send it to us a beemont@beechmont.org or call a board member.
Please understand that our final position on this in no way diminishes your rights as a citizen to take up your grievance with the zoning board. Also this
project is still in the early stages, the zoning variance is not docketed yet and there is some time before it will be scheduled.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM