The Dayton Plan Board Tuesday unanimously approved rezoning 2.3 acres to allow construction of a $3.5 million White Allen Honda dealership on North Main Street.

The approval is a step in the dealership’s hoped-for renewal of a business that has operated on Main north of downtown since the 1930s.

White Family Companies Inc. wants to build a Honda dealership just north of its current White Allen Honda dealership, at 500 N. Main. Tim White, the company’s president, spoke last month with the Dayton Daily News about an array of projects — some under way or soon to start — that would amount to a total of $10 million of investments in Montgomery County by his business.

Dayton City Commission may take up the company’s plan in April.

The new Honda store would have a ground floor covering 21,508 square feet, a mezzanine of 5,772 square feet for a total area of 27,280 square feet, according to plans the company submitted to Dayton city government. The lot would cover 2.29 acres with a frontage on North Main of 541 feet. It would be built at 600-660 North Main.

Representatives of McPherson Town Historical Society and Christ Cathedral, 51 Best St., expressed concerns to the board about aspects of the dealership’s plan, but they also said they supported its overall direction.

“There’s no indication in any of the correspondence we’ve received that White Allen (Honda) has been anything but a good neighbor,” said Greg Scott, board president.

One facet of the plan that drew attention was the proposed building of a “windy” — a wind turbine topped with 20-foot sails meant to generate electricity for the dealership’s lot lights. Scott called that his “biggest concern,” asking if the 50-foot structure might resemble a billboard or “set a precedent” for future wind turbines in the city.

But Andrew Rodney, a city planner, said the turbines “are not for the faint of heart.” They are expensive structures, he said.

The “virtually silent” devices will spin with wind speeds starting at about 5 mph, shutting down once winds hit about 40 mph, he said. It won’t be illuminated at night but will be visible from nearby Interstate 75, and the only other turbine similar to it that Rodney could verify is in Texas, he said.

“It’s sort of a unique feature,” Rodney added.

Board members asked that no additional signage be attached to the turbine structure. They also asked that Dayton law firm Pickrel Schaeffer & Ebling, which represents White Allen, work with Christ Cathedral to ensure access to a playground, a dumpster and air-conditioning units on cathedral property. Attorney Alan Schaeffer said that would be done.

“It’s going to be a great boon to downtown, there’s no question about it,” Schaeffer said.

City staff called a new dealership in an urban area “an experiment” for both White Allen and Honda.

“To our knowledge, this is the first and only Honda location coming online (in an urban setting) in the next few years,” Rodney said.