Norwich – A half-mile section of the busy West Main Street commercial strip now has two chain automotive parts retail stores, and soon could have a third national chain store.

Missouri-based O'Reilly Automotive Stores Inc. has purchased two vacant wooded lots at 460-474 W. Main St. from the Sts. Peter and Paul Church Corp. for a combined total of $300,000 and plans to open a retail auto parts store at the location.

The two small lots, which total nearly 0.4 acres and are appraised on city tax records for a combined total of $62,500, are located at the base of the hill from the Roman Catholic Church.

The new store would be nearly directly across the street from Auto Zone at 361 W. Main St. and about a half mile from the Advance Auto Parts store at 270 W. Main St.

O'Reilly spokesman Mark Merz said he could not comment on specifics of the Norwich plans, because the property purchase is too recent. The national chain store, founded in 1957, has 4,571 store locations nationwide, according to the company website, including stores in East Hartford and Wethersfield.

“We're planning to open 210 stores in 2016 across the country,” Merz said. “We're in 44 states and plan to open across our footprint.”

Norwich Zoning Enforcement Officer Tianne Curtis said no formal plans have been submitted yet, but she has discussed the plan with store representatives. The property owners now are flagging the property for wetlands, and might need both wetlands and site plan permits before construction can begin, she said.

Curtis said it's too early to tell whether the project can take advantage of a newly approved zoning regulation change that allows some commercial development to avoid the requirement for formal review by the Commission on the City Plan and receive approval directly from the city planning staff.

The property deed for the transaction, recorded on city land records March 4, contains six specific prohibitions ordered by Sts. Peter and Paul Church Corp. that shouldn't affect the plans for an auto parts store.

The deed restrictions, in place as long as the church remains standing, prohibit the property from being used for any facility that provides “abortion, sterilization, euthanasia or other acts contrary to the ethical and religious directives for the Catholic Health Care Services” and also prohibit pornographic businesses, massage or tattoo parlors, taverns, bars and live performances geared toward adult audiences.

c.bessette@theday.com