Growth along the Plano Road corridor, already expected to accelerate with the upcoming extension of Bluegrass Farms Boulevard, is getting a sooner-than-expected boost.

Beverage distributor Clark Distributing Company won approval last week from the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County for rezoning 86.8 acres at the intersection of Plano Road and Interstate 165 in order to build a new corporate headquarters and distribution facility.

The rezoning from agriculture to light industrial, approved in a 7-0 vote, will allow Clark to move forward with a $120 million facility that was announced by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development last month.

Clark, which now has its headquarters on Oakland Flatrock Road in northern Warren County, has plans to partner on the move to new headquarters with the Natcher Parkway Holdings LLC that lists Florida attorney Greg Betterton as its manager. Betterton has long represented Franklin native Brad Kelley, one of the largest landowners in the country.

Natcher Parkway Holdings is also in partnership with the city of Bowling Green on the $7 million project to extend Bluegrass Farms Boulevard from its current dead-end near Camping World to Plano Road.

According to planning commission documents, Clark plans to build a headquarters building with a footprint not to exceed 30,000 square feet and “multiple industrial outparcels.”

The move to the site across Plano Road from Wright Implement makes sense for Clark, said attorney Chris Davenport, who represented the beverage distributor at the Nov. 7 planning commission meeting.

“This corridor is growing and will continue to grow with the extension of Bluegrass Farms Boulevard,” Davenport said. “This will give them (Clark) more visibility. They’re excited.”

The development ties in well with the growth expected to come with the Bluegrass Farms Boulevard extension.

Preliminary plans for the property along the extension call for a large mixed-use development expected to include automobile dealerships and other retail establishments.

Clark’s move is also expected to create changes to the transportation infrastructure in the Plano Road area. According to planning commission documents, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet recommended installing a roundabout wide enough to accommodate the large trucks operated by Clark.

Davenport said Clark management is open to that idea or to simply putting in a traffic light at Red Rock Road across from Clark’s new headquarters.

“My client said that whatever is going to work best is what they want to do,” Davenport said. “They will work with the state to get the funding and maybe come up with a public-private venture.”

The move to new headquarters will create about 20 new jobs and continue Clark’s long history in Warren County.

The company, known then as Clark Beverage Group, started in 1903 when Carsie Cannon Clark opened a small soda water operation in Tennessee.

Clark Distributing was started in 1969, when Dal Clark and other family members bought the Miller/Falstaff distributor in Bowling Green. The company now has a range of offerings that includes Coca-Cola products, energy drinks, and various brands of beer.

Covering parts of Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Tennessee, Clark now employs more than 1,300 people.