DaytonDailyNews.com

CENTERVILLE — City Council on Monday night, Aug. 18, gave the go-ahead for the Kroger Co. to build a marketplace and gas station at 1095 S. Main St. at Sheehan Road, the site of an existing Elder-Beerman store.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve a major use special request and record plan for the site. The request included 17 conditions, one of which will involve installing landscaping and building 6-foot mounds behind the store to cut noise from late-night deliveries.

The vote followed the continuation of a July 21 public hearing halted at the request of the Black Equities Group of Los Angeles, the property owners who control the 18.1-acre site.

The 105,000-square foot Elder-Beerman/Bon Ton store is to be razed and replaced by a one-story, 134,976-square-foot Kroger and six-pump fuel center that will run parallel to South Main Street.

Jonathan Wocher, a planner with McBride Dale Clarion, who represents Kroger, said construction would take about 10 months, and completion tentatively could be late 2009. There's no schedule for razing the Elder-Beerman store because there are issues to be worked out, he said.

"The No. 1 goal of 'create the vision' was redevelopment," Deputy Mayor Doug Cline said. "We are very happy to see this site is being redeveloped. It means new jobs, more jobs. That's a nice thing to say here in Dayton, Ohio."

Elder-Beerman representatives have declined comment on plans for the store once the building is razed, but city Planner Steve Feverston said, "it would be very desirable to keep Elder-Beerman in the area."

The closest Elder-Beerman store is at Dayton Mall.