A Dollar General could go up next year on the former site of Jim’s Auto Body at 320 Bath Road, or Route 1. That’s the plan, a representative for a design firm told the Wiscasset Planning Board Monday night.

Board members’ questions were few in the first talks on the project, and during the discussion they had positive comments about the prospect of the retail store coming to town. “I think we need this,” member Deb Pooler said.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s a nice store,” member Tony Gatti said. He and other members said they have been to other Dollar Generals. With one here, people wouldn’t have to drive as far, Pooler said. The panel heard from Chris Nadeau of Concord, New Hampshire-based Nobis Engineering. He said the firm has worked with the company that will own the store, Zaremba Group of Cleveland, Ohio, on about 30 Dollar Generals in New Hampshire and Maine, most recently in Union and Livermore.

It’s not a dollar store, Nadeau told the board. “That just happens to be their name.” It’s like a Rite Aid or CVS, without the prescriptions, he said. Nadeau said the stores are general retail. “(They’re in) more rural areas where you wouldn’t see a Walmart (and they have) similar name brands to Walmart but less floor space.”

A Nov. 27 letter Nobis Engineering sent the town states the firm is designing a 7,225-square-foot store and a 31-space parking facility. Nadeau told the board the store would likely be open seven days a week, from about 7 or 8 a.m. to about 9 or 10 p.m. A tractor-trailer would make a delivery about once a week, he said.

Nadeau hoped to return to the board for a site plan review in about a month. The firm will also seek Maine Department of Transportation’s approval on the driveway and has been working with the Department of Environmental Protection on a cleanup plan for petroleum on the site, he told the board. Having something to clean up might be expected where a business had used cars, Board Chairman Ray Soule said.

In addition to the site plan review ahead, Soule told Nadeau to expect a site walk and public hearing. Plans call for construction to start next spring and finish in the fall, Nadeau said.

Also Monday, the board agreed it will approve Scott Garman’s site plan after he submits one that shows pins marking property boundaries. According to the application, Garman wants to bring a garage on Indian Road into compliance with setback requirements by buying an abutting 2,258 square feet of property.