The Trafalgar Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance to allow Midwest Truck Collective Properties to open a used car lot at 3672 State Road 135.
Photo from Beacon
A used car dealership with a focus on selling “high-quality pickup trucks” will open in Trafalgar this summer.
The Trafalgar Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance Wednesday that would allow Midwest Truck Collective Properties to have a commercial car lot at 3672 State Road 135. The dealership will have five employees with an opportunity to hire more as the business grows.
The commercial dealership will sell pick-up trucks and other used cars and will not offer any repair services, said Marc Robinson, a property owner. The dealership already has a website, mtcmidwest.com, and describes the trucks they will sell as “lower mileage, older vehicles.” Robinson said the plan is to sell popular used truck models such as a 1999 to 2006 GMC and 1999 to 2002 Ford and more.
The company intends to remodel the home and barn located on the property. The barn will be used as an office space for the car lot, while the home will be rented to a commercial or residential tenant. Maintenance work would be performed off-site and trucks would only be staged at the car lot, Robinson said.
Robinson, a Bargersville resident and Center Grove graduate, said he and his brother, who owns the property with him, are familiar with Trafalgar. They used to travel through Trafalgar to get to their grandparents’ property in Brown County and remember a car lot that formerly was open in town.
“Pretty much every weekend growing up we were going down 135 and going to Brown County. We used to stop at the car lot that we bought and there used to be nice trucks there back in the day,” Robinson said. “And we saw the for sale and we’re like ‘That’d be really cool to open a truck lot that we could put some really cool trucks out front.”
The property is also close to home for Robinson and his employees, he said.
“All of us are local,” Robinson said. “So that’s why we picked Trafalgar because we liked your town.”
BZA members and residents discussed potential issues such as noise, lighting and the number of vehicles that would be allowed on the property at the Wednesday meeting.
Donna Moore, town clerk-treasurer, lives behind the property. Moore had questions about on-site maintenance, a dilapidated fence located on the property and employment opportunities.
The owners plan to install a new six-foot privacy fence along the western edge of the property to reduce noise pollution and make the property more attractive, said Eric Prime, an attorney representing Midwest Truck Collective.
Pam McQueary, who lives next to the property on State Road 135, asked about noise pollution on the property. “Concerned parent” Jeff Taylor doesn’t live in Trafalgar, but his daughter lives next to the property, he said. Taylor questioned code enforcement of the property and noise pollution.
The board considered posing some conditions on the variance to address residents’ concerns. The property owners committed to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. operating hours to limit noise pollution and nuisance issues. They also committed to working with the town on light selection, fence type and designs.
In addition, the BZA increased the maximum number of vehicles allowed on the property from 10 to 25 to allow for potential business growth. Board members approved the variance with stipulations to operate within the specified operating hours, maintain and fix the privacy fence on the west side, clean up the greenery and retain the tree barrier as much as possible.
Additionally, the variance would not permit the sale of boats, farm equipment and other items that are not trucks under one ton.
Robinson said he hopes to have renovations completed for a summer opening.
