Chick-fil-A has submitted a land development plan for what would be the Georgia company’s first franchise in Lebanon County, to be located at 1147 Quentin Road.
A preliminary/final land development plan was submitted to North Cornwall Township on Monday, Feb. 27, and has also been submitted to Lebanon County Planning Department.
Click here to see the full land development plan (PDF).
A Chick-fil-A spokesperson confirmed via email that the company is actively pursuing a new location in the Lebanon area.
The land development plan shows a 5,905-square-foot new restaurant building on the site with 70 seats and 55 parking spots. The property as it stands today has 114 parking spots.
The property was most recently the site of a Golden Corral, which closed last year, and is owned by New York-based Prestige Properties & Development.
According to the plan, the existing Golden Corral structure would be demolished, and the site would be almost totally remade, with a retention basin to be installed underneath the parking lot to help with stormwater management. New concrete curbs would also be installed in the parking lot.
Prestige property manager Adonis Gjaka said in an interview with LebTown on Wednesday, March 1, that while a lease has not yet been finalized, “it’s looking that way.” Gjaka said that he was not able to disclose anything further at this time as “(Chick-fil-A) is still doing some investigation.”
Although the proposed Lebanon County restaurant is larger than another Chick-fil-A currently under development in the region – a 4,758 square-foot, 62-seat restaurant is under development in Susquehanna Township – it also offers fewer seats, suggesting that the Lebanon location will have a relatively large kitchen, which should help to increase throughput for the drive-through and minimize traffic impact. A Chick-fil-A spokesperson noted via email that its new restaurant prototypes feature larger kitchen capacity to more efficiently serve their guests.
Because the property sits within the Lebanon Plaza Shopping Center, Chick-fil-A would not need to seek a highway occupancy permit from PennDOT, a planning measure required for projects that need direct access to the state’s right of ways. However, the company currently has traffic study underway so that North Cornwall Township planners can understand how the restaurant might impact local traffic flows.
Chick-fil-A’s are well-known for their extraordinarily popular drive-throughs. The plans show drive-through lanes looping around the southern and eastern edge of the parcel.
North Cornwall Township manager Tom Long said that depending on when the traffic study is submitted, as well as pending any feedback or changes requested by township engineers, the plans could be reviewed by North Cornwall Township’s Planning Commission at either its March 29 or April 26 meeting.
The plans show two primary drive-through lanes, as well as a third drive-through lane, which Long said could be used for overflow.
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