New Chick-fil-A on tap for Fort Gratiot commercial corridor

A new fast-food chain is coming to Fort Gratiot’s commercial corridor.

Site plans for a Chick-fil-A last week for 4783 24th Ave. in front of Meijer last occupied by a Golden Corral have been OK’d by the township.

Local officials said representatives have indicated construction on a structure for the restaurant that specializes in chicken sandwiches was expected to begin next year. And on Tuesday, Chick-fil-A spokesperson Gabriana Filice said they would be opening the new site in Fort Gratiot by fall 2024.

“There are a couple of conditions that were placed on the approval to get the necessary permitting as part of the construction process,” said Bob Buechler, the township clerk who also chairs its planning commission. The body signed off on a site plan application at a meeting last Tuesday. “And we asked that they add one more ADA-accessible parking spot to comply with our parking ordinance.”

Jorja Baldwin, who consults for the township on planning and zoning, said the Golden Corral last on the site was demolished several years ago, leaving the site vacant.

Subsequently, she said Chick-fil-A will have to build from the ground up.

Sitting on less than two acres, according to site plans, the proposed Chick-fil-A building would be 5,100 square feet in size with 70 seats inside and 20 outdoors, as well as two drive-thru lanes.

Baldwin said there have been some questions revolving around parking and traffic backing up — one sign of its expected popularity — and no curb cut onto M-25 would be allowed.

“The ordinance would only require stacking per 12 cars, six per menu board, or however they choose to order,” she said. “… But there’s enough room on the site to stack 50 cares between where you come into the parking lot and where you start lining up essentially to get to the drive-thru service.

“I think that’s pretty big especially when they first open. I think it can get a little hairy. Between GFS and Walmart, there are eight points of access. Each of those commercial developments, the parking lots are all connected.”

A Florida-based real estate developer representing corporate Chick-fil-A retains the site, according to the St. Clair County register of deeds, so it was not clear who would operate the local chain restaurant.

But the restaurant emphasizes local ownership in its operations. According to a layout of site features, the typical number of employees for each Chick-fil-A are 15 to 20 with basic hours from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, though that may be determined separately by the local operator based on demand and volume. Chick-fil-As are not open on Sundays. Filice added Tuesday that each locally owned and operated restaurant creates 80 to 120 jobs in the area.

Additionally, the company boasts its reportedly precedent of donating $25,000 to local food banks each time a franchise restaurant opens.

In total, Chick-fil-A restaurants have more than 3,000 locations in 48 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Canada. Nine have opened in southeastern Michigan within the last three years, according to the company, with active developments in Ann Arbor, Auburn Hills, Canton, Chesterfield, Detroit, Lincoln Park, Orion Township, Rochester Hills, Roseville, Saginaw, Taylor, and Troy.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: New Chick-fil-A on tap for Fort Gratiot commercial corridor