The Town of Batavia is pretty close to issuing a building permit for a 4,620-square-foot Chick-fil-A restaurant planned for 8353 Lewiston Road, near the site of the former Kmart. All that's left is for Town Engineer Jon Long to sign off on a revised traffic plan, and once that happens, construction could begin.
According to The Batavian, Building Inspector Dan Lang said the project's traffic study has already passed muster, and the town conducted its own review as well. Lang said the town will issue the building permit the day Long approves the traffic plan, clearing the way for crews to start work. Chick-fil-A, he said, is looking to start as soon as possible.
Why the Traffic Plan Got Reworked
The project's design changed after concerns surfaced about driveway issues and the prospect of sending heavy restaurant traffic directly onto Lewiston Road. The fix, worked out between town and Benderson Development engineers, reroutes exiting traffic from the building's driveways over to Park Road instead. The restaurant's plan also includes some changed curb cuts and utility work in the end lot, part of the same effort to iron out circulation before construction begins.
That reshuffling followed an earlier point in the process when the picture looked less settled. In a previous report, Town Supervisor Gregory Post had said the project was part of an original concept plan Benderson Development received approval for a few years earlier, and at that time the town said it had not yet received the traffic study. Lang had also said then that the Lewiston Road traffic question was the town's main concern, and that the project hadn't changed enough to require another full site plan review. The newer reporting shows that review has since moved forward, with both the town and Benderson Development each completing their own traffic studies.
What's Planned Inside and Out
Once built, the restaurant is designed to seat 80 people indoors and 16 outside, with two drive-thru lanes and an indoor play area among the features in the plans. Parking is expected to run around 128 spaces, give or take a few. The architect of record is Harrison, French & Associates of Bentonville, Arkansas, according to the same Batavian report.
Lang noted that the community has been waiting for the restaurant to open, and said he doesn't expect the permit process itself to drag on for a building of this size, since a roughly 4,000-square-foot structure typically isn't a lengthy approval. The new Chick-fil-A would rise near an existing building that already houses Jersey Mike's, Taichi Bubble Tea and Starbucks. A separate Taichi Bubble Tea buildout is also planned nearby at 8379 Lewiston Road, per the earlier Batavian report, adding more foot traffic to the same stretch.
How Traffic Played Out Elsewhere
Batavia isn't the first town to wrestle with how a new Chick-fil-A reshapes nearby roads. In Johnson City, New York, officials anticipated heavy congestion when a Chick-fil-A at Oakdale Commons opened with two drive-thru lanes, according to WNBF. The chain worked with local police there and was prepared to hire eight off-duty officers to help manage traffic during the restaurant's first two weeks, while the state Department of Transportation stood ready to adjust signals, and even close highway ramps, if conditions warranted it. That location was slated to open in mid-October, WNBF reported.
Once Batavia's new Chick-fil-A becomes the fifth in the region to open, joining existing locations in Brockport, Cheektowaga, Hamburg and Irondequoit, it will add to a growing footprint for the chain in Western New York. For now, the project's fate hinges on one remaining signature: Town Engineer Jon Long's approval of the Park Road traffic routing, which officials say is the last step before the Town of Batavia can issue the building permit.
