A Lincoln landmark would be torn down under a plan approved Wednesday by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission.
MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 7:00 pm
A Lincoln landmark would be torn down under a plan approved Wednesday by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission.
The former King’s Drive-In at 923 South St. would make way for a 7,000-square-foot Advanced Auto Parts store and a 3,100-square-foot KFC restaurant.
King’s occupied the now-vacant building for nearly 40 years before closing in 2000. Jimmy Ace’s, another retro-themed diner, followed in 2001, lasting four years. The building has been vacant since.
Attorney Michael Rierden said a vacant muffler store and some houses also would be torn down to facilitate the development.
Rierden and city planners had been negotiating redevelopment of the site for several months but had been getting hung up on issues such as site access, the vacation of an alley running through the property and orientation of the buildings.
But Rierden said Wednesday that the property owners needed to go forward because prospective tenants didn’t want to wait any longer.
The move almost backfired, as commissioners narrowly approved the plan 5-3.
Several commissioners expressed concern that the site wasn’t being developed in the spirit of the revitalized South Street area, for example, the businesses will not face South Street.
The city declared the area blighted in 2006 and has been working on widening the street and sprucing up sidewalks. The declaration came in part in the hope that run-down businesses in the area would be redeveloped.
For other commissioners, the fact that the site will be redeveloped, even if not totally in line with the ideals of the South Street redevelopment, was enough of an incentive to approve the plan.
“That section has been an eyesore for a long time, and I think this is an improvement,” said Commissioner Mary Strand.
Before work can begin at the site, the plan must be approved by the City Council.
Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.