The restaurant’s old location on 256 South Miami Street.
By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – The Wabash City Board of Zoning Appeals set the stage for the return of Aztecas Mexican Grill. The new location for the restaurant will be at 700 South Cass Street, right next to Kirtlan Automotive. On Thursday night, the board rezoned the nearly 5,000 sq. foot building, which is owned by Kirtlan, from light industrial to general business. The interior will be updated to make the space into a restaurant and work will be done to add another exit so as to bring the building up to code. Aztecas owner Betty Abbott said that more jobs will be added simply because the space is larger than the previous location at 256 South Miami Street. The vote in favor of the rezoning was unanimous. Abbott did not return our phone calls so, as of yet, we cannot report a time frame as to when the restaurant will open. MiBash News has learned that the name of the new restaurant will not likely be Aztecas but will be owned by the former owner of Aztecas and will presumably employ some of the same people.
The proposed site of the new restaurant at 700 South Cass Street
The board voted down a proposal made by the First United Methodist Church to add an digital LED sign to the corner of Cass and Maple Streets. The proposed 3 by 5 foot sign would have replaced the current sign on the site. Attorney Joe Eddingfield, who represented the church, told the board that the sign would be nothing like a commercial sign in that it would not flash and have a low level of illumination.
Several residents who live in the area spoke against the sign, some fearing a commercialization of the area and others saying that they did not want to having extra light shining in their windows. Even after setting a parameter that the sign only be lit from dawn until dusk, the board voted down the proposal 3 to 1. Board member Oren Wagner abstained from voting as he is a member of the First United Methodist Church. The proposed sign would have sat in the city’s Third District, and Bob Greene, Councilman for the Third District, explains the concerns of residents.
Not surprisingly, the also board rezoned land purchased by Parkview Wabash Hospital adjacent to their existing land near US 24 from residential to general business. The land will be used for a $6 million, two-story medical building which will sit next to the new hospital. The Wabash City Council must vote on final approval of the rezoning and re-platting of the parcel at their next meeting on March 28th.