A proposal to place a Dollar General store just north of Medora cleared another hurdle earlier this week.
That hurdle involved rezoning property at 6968 W. County Road 300S near State Road 235 from residential to general business.
On Tuesday night, the Jackson County Plan Commission approved that request. Now, it needs the blessing of county commissioners, who next meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 6.
Tuesday’s decision came after a public hearing in front of a packed crowd at the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown.
During the hearing, eight people spoke in favor of the business, and no one spoke in opposition.
Marty Myers, the seller of the land, explained his motivation to do so.
“It’s for the community,” he said. “If anybody wants anything, it’s a 20-mile round trip to a store right now.”
Medora Town Council President Jerry Ault spoke about the impact this business would have on the area.
“This means a great deal to this town. We’re hanging on by a thread,” Ault said.
Pamela Smith also spoke about why she feels Medora needs the store.
“Medora used to have a lot, but now, it’s all gone,” she said. “This is going to save our town.”
Ultimately, the nine-member commission voted unanimously to approve the proposal, leading to a large applause from the crowd.
The store, Dollar General’s eighth location in the county, was proposed by Curt Rafferty of Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The store would be approximately 9,100 square feet in size, which is the mid-level size of Dollar General stores. Comparatively, the Dollar General store recently built in Freetown is more than 10,000 square feet.
The Medora store also will include 30 parking spaces at the 2-acre site.
The final step in the process is for Rafferty to go in front of county commissioners, who will be asked to sign off an ordinance rezoning the property.
Slaughterhouse proposal moves to BZA
During Tuesday’s meeting, the plan commission also voted to approve a request that would bring a slaughterhouse to Crothersville.
Chad Reynolds with White Oak Custom Meats is looking to utilize 2.5 acres of land at 11331 E. County Road 500S for the business.
Reynolds spoke to commissioners about why he feels the business is necessary.
“I’ve seen a need in the county,” he said.
The facility will have no more than three to four live animals there at a time, and he expects to see up to 10 in a day. He said the turnaround is fairly quick and animals typically aren’t there for any longer than 24 hours.
Initially, Reynolds does not plan to sell the meat himself, although in the future, he plans to go in that direction by buying from farmers, butchering the meat and reselling it to the public.
The commission voted 8-1 to send the proposal with a favorable recommendation to the next Jackson County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting for final approval. The dissenting vote was cast by Leon Pottschmidt, who said he was worried about waste disposal.
“I think that’s going to be an issue over the years. If your going to deal with 40 animals, that’s a lot of washing work. That’s a lot of grease, hair,” Pottschmidt said.
Reynolds said the facility will have a 2,000-gallon holding tank, required by the state, to hold such waste, and he plans to have it picked up and disposed of in Columbus.
The next BZA meeting is set for at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the county courthouse, 111 S. Main St. It’s open to the public and press.