Vote On Batavia Chick-fil-A Design Pushed Back

City officials will wait at least another month to bring talks of a new Batavia restaurant back to council chambers.

The fast-food chicken franchise Chick-fil-A wants to open a Batavia location. With approval, builders expect to start construction on the 4,469 square-foot restaurant in in the spring of 2012.

The Plan Commission will continue the Aug. 3 public hearing for the Batavia Chick-fil-A to its Sept. 7 meeting.

“It just seems to me that there’s a lot of things that were brought to the table at the very last minute, and we’re not going to resolve (them tonight),” said Karen Kosky, plan commission member, on Wednesday.

City staff received a letter on August 3 from Lance Chody of Randall and McKee LLC, the property owner of the site where the Batavia Chick-fil-A is planned. The letter raises issues on zoning and covenants. 

Then Marshall Dickler of Windmill Lakes LLC objected to the restaurant at the meeting. This is the property owner from Sears to Target west of Randall Road.

All About Location

Dickler said he is opposed to the restaurant because the site was originally a State Farm Insurance claim center. Then he was promised by the owner that it would become a Fuddruckers restaurant. Now he said it's simply retail that competes with his property. The restaurant site blocks the view of the stores and thus takes away traffic from the property, he said.

Dickler has had 4,000 square feet of empty space since he bought the center in 2003 and at the end of the year he will lose the store Tuesday Morning. He said that he will not provide the necessary easements that he claims are needed for the restaurant development.

“We are all struggling in that center," Dickler said. "You don’t want to see that go dark. I most certainly don’t want to see it go dark. I am very concerned about it."

Jason Hill, the civil engineer for Chick-fil-A, hopes that this will not delay the 2012 opening.

Chick-fil-A officials intend to make sure that the property owners can work out the appropriate issues, Hill said.

“These approvals, from my understanding, are private and don’t affect the ruling that you could or could not make this evening,” he said to the commission members.

The members did not make any final rulings. The city attorney requested information from Marshall   about agreements between the property owners to review.

When a Batavia Chick-fil-A opens, its hours will be from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and be closed on Sunday. The restaurant will seat about 150 people, including five outdoor tables. The location will also have a two-lane drive thru for order placing and then merge to a single lane for pick up.

To read our first full story on Chick-fil-A in Batavia, click .

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