Plans to open a Chick-fil-A restaurant on Pipestone Road in Benton Township remain on track as the Benton Township Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday granted a signage variance for the establishment.
Chick-fil-A requested permission to erect a 60-foot sign at the site of the former Steak ‘n Shake near I-94 so drivers on the highway can know the restaurant is there. The township’s current sign height limit is 40-feet. The board was told the township has granted plenty of variances for that rule in the past, and it agreed.
Benton Township chief building official Andy Dean told us we’ll start to see progress at the Chick-fil-A site soon.
“We’ve released a permit application for construction,” Dean said. “Demolition should be scheduled within a week or two from what the folks over at Chick-fil-A are telling us. The Steak ‘n Shake building will be torn down to place a new Chick-fil-A restaurant there.”
Dean didn’t know when the restaurant might open, but Benton Township Supervisor Cathy Yates told us this week it’s looking like this year.
The Zoning Board of Appeals approved Chick-fil-A’s request, sending it on to the Benton Township Planning Commission with an added recommendation to change the sign ordinance so such variances don’t have to be allowed all of the time.
Chick-fil-A’s 60-foot sign will be built installed by RWL Sign Company out of Kalamazoo, which says it will have the most substantial foundation they’ve ever constructed, going 23 feet deep.
