Buc-ee’s, the Texas-based travel center chain known for its oversized retail stores, is bringing its second Kentucky location to Smiths Grove.

And, fittingly, it will come with a Texas-sized sign.

The Warren County Board of Adjustments on Thursday approved the application of Buc-ee’s Kentucky LLC for a waiver to erect a 380-square-foot sign that will exceed by 180 square feet the maximum for the Smiths Grove area.

The approval all but assures that the 54,000-square-foot store and its 116 fueling stations and 565 parking spaces will be coming to the 31-acre site in the southeast corner of the Smiths Grove interchange (exit 38) on Interstate 65.

“We’ll start construction by the end of the year,” Buc-ee’s Director of Real Estate Stan Beard said after the waiver was approved in a 6-0 vote.

Buc-ee’s, which opened its first store in 1982, began a multi-state expansion strategy in 2019 that is only now reaching into Kentucky. The chain known for its beaver mascot, its Texas barbecue and its jerky announced in April that it is building a 53,000-square-foot store along Interstate 75 in Richmond.

Beard said the Smiths Grove location, like the Richmond site, fits with the company’s strategy of catering to travelers.

“This is a great location for us,” he said. “It will catch a lot of travelers between Nashville and cities to the north.”

For Buc-ee’s, catching those travelers generally means erecting a large eye-catching sign.

Beard explained during the meeting: “This is kind of an odd request for us. This is the smallest allowable sign size we’ve come across. Our standard sign is crazy big.”

He said the typical sign includes the circular Buc-ee’s logo that has the beaver mascot image and the name of the location.

“We want to equate Buc-ee’s with the small towns we’re in,” Beard said. “The ‘button’ logo with Smiths Grove on a panel below it will be equal to the smallest sign we’ve ever built.”

Approval of the sign on land that is zoned highway business gives the green light to a travel center that normally employs about 200 people.

Once located strictly in Texas, Buc-ee’s is expanding into Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky. The company’s website lists 40 locations, but many more are in the works.

Another growing chain, Florida-based Sonny’s BBQ, also won approval from the board of adjustments Thursday and moved a step closer to moving into the former Bob Evans restaurant building at 145 Three Springs Road.

Sonny’s BBQ was approved unanimously for a variance of 7.92 feet to allow a freestanding sign to be 12.08 feet from the edge of the pavement instead of the normal allowable distance of 20 feet.

Bob Evans, an Ohio-based chain owned since 2017 by San Francisco-based Golden Gate Capital, closed its Bowling Green location suddenly Feb. 22.

Sonny’s was making plans to occupy the building before that closure.

A building permit filed Jan. 28 with the city of Bowling Green shows that the barbecue restaurant plans to spend $75,000 on a renovation that includes installing a drive-through window.

Sonny’s BBQ was started in 1968 in Gainesville, Fla., by Floyd “Sonny” Tillman and his wife, Lucille Tillman.

Tillman began franchising the Sonny’s brand in 1977 and sold the growing restaurant chain in 1991 to Bob Yarmuth.

Today, according to the company’s website, there are 95 Sonny’s BBQ locations across eight states, with 72 of them in Florida.

Sonny’s, which has Kentucky locations in Corbin, Nicholasville, Richmond and Somerset, has a menu that includes pulled and sliced pork barbecue as well as ribs and smoked turkey.

While Buc-ee’s and Sonny’s received unanimous approval for their applications, a conditional-use permit application for operation of a short-term rental in a residential area was voted down.

Frances Denis, who had been operating an Airbnb short-term rental at her property at 451 Drakesborough Drive since last year, applied for the CUP after a code enforcement complaint was filed with the City-County Planning Commission.

Denis, who splits her time between California and Bowling Green and rents the Drakesborough home while she’s away, said she was unaware that a permit was needed to operate an Airbnb.

“I want to let everyone know that I have no intention of degrading the neighborhood,” Denis told the board members. “I bought the home in 2007. We love it and visit several times a year. My ultimate goal is to retire here.”

But the board heard from 12 different residents of the Drakesborough subdivision who were opposed to permitting an Airbnb in the neighborhood.

David Lyng, a Drakesborough Drive resident for 18 years, was among those speaking against the application.

“We have a vested interest in our community,” Lyng said. “Short-term rentals have their place, but there has been a lot of growth in hotels in Bowling Green.

“I don’t see where there’s a need for one more rental unit.”

The board of adjustments members agreed. John Fitts made a motion to deny the CUP application, and the board passed it 6-0.