As part of a development plan on 3.25 acres at Main Street and Wilkes Lane in Spring Hill, Chicken Salad Chick, a fast-casual chain, will open.
In August the Spring Hill Planning Commission approved Arnold Consulting Engineering Services, Inc’s plan for the property to include a Chick-fil-A, another restaurant and a dental office. We now know the second restaurant will be Chicken Salad Chick.
Chicken Salad Chick is based in Auburn, Alabama and has 51 locations. They specialize in chicken salad, serving a variety of type and flavors. They also do fruit, salads and other healthy sides. Read more about them here.
The project is currently under construction without an announced completion date.
“This will be Chicken Salad Chick’s first drive-thru,” Mayor Rick Graham said. “Which is just our luck. But it will be lower volume than the Chick-fil-A double style drive-thru.”
The plan for the development went through several versions, amidst concerns that traffic volume would be too high at the site. Two drive-thru restaurants were ultimately approved on the site.
“Two drive-thrus were approved but one would have been ideal,” Graham said.”
“City staff and planning commissioners did a wonderful job of working with the developers, which is a lot more than just Chick-fil-A,” Mayor Rick a Graham said. “The plan was modified with less density, and safety in mind over five times. This has been a big item for us, as people have pleaded for getting Chick-fil-A to Spring Hill. This will be one less reason to drive out of our community, and reduce traffic.”
The sketch plan was first put forth in September 2016 with 26,100 square feet of retail, restaurant and medical space. That had been reduced to 18,458 square feet. The developer pulled the plan from the September planning commission agenda, to resubmit in the spring.
When planners saw the plans again, in spring of 2017, however, not enough changes were made. Finally, this past August, it gained approval.
The developers made changes to the final plan to adjust to planners’ concerns, for instance instead of one large building, plans now include two small buildings, which creates more space and through-ways for drivers to move through the development. According to the planning department report, the plans appear close to approval with just a few remaining items needing to be addressed.
The old silo on the site was also recently demolished.
Graham said it was a necessary part of the project, despite developers doing all they could to work around it.
