Plans for a new Chick-fil-A location along the Jimmie Dyess Parkway thoroughfare, at I-20 Exit 194, are underway.
Bohler Engineering out of Atlanta has submitted a variance request to Columbia County Planning and Zoning at 4329 Belair Frontage Road, currently the site of the vacant Steak N’ Shake building.
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The firm is seeking the variance on behalf of the renowned fast-food chain, which plans to redevelop the property to build a 2,848-square-foot drive-thru only Chick-fil-A restaurant.
The parcel is zoned C-2 General Commercial, which requires building setbacks be no less than 125 feet from the centerline of an arterial street—in this case, Belair Frontage Road. Bohler is seeking a variance to reduce this restriction to 85 feet, to accommodate the anticipated high traffic demand.
Noting the triangular shape of the parcel and its impact on where the restaurant building can be placed, Bohler states in the application addendum that the building “must be situated closer to the Jimmie Dyess Parkway and Belair Frontage Road intersection to allow for the necessary drive-thru stacking to mitigate traffic build up on Belair Frontage Road.”
The owners of the Steak ‘N Shake that opened at the site in 2012 closed the location in August of last year. Connecticut investment firm Ararat Miracle LLC, listed in the variance application, had already acquired the property in 2022.
The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the request in its July 11 meeting.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
