Chicken and soup not on Grafton’s menu yet

A request to create Chick-fil-A and Cafe Zupas restaurants on a site off Port Washington Road in Grafton will be taken up by the Grafton Zoning Board of Appeals, probably in January, after members of the Grafton Plan Commission recommended changes to plans for the two eateries.

Concept plans for the restaurants, proposed by developer Joseph Vavrina with HR Green Inc., were considered by the commission on Dec. 16 but the board took no action on the proposal.

The commission concurred with a staff recommendation that noted a number of issues with the plan, including parking that is “considerably” higher than the maximum allowed by code, less green space than required by code, the  fact that free-standing drive-through canopies encroach into the front and side yard setbacks, trash enclosures also encroach on the side yard setbacks and the lighting plan exceeds allowable levels.

“Essentially the developer is proposing something different from the standards in the zoning code,” Mark Sauer, the village’s interim community development director, said.

To receive the needed variances, he said, the developer needs to prove that meeting the village codes would create a hardship.

Sauer noted that the developer has not yet submitted revised plans for the Board of Appeals, which is scheduled to meet Jan. 8. That meeting may be rescheduled, he said. 

“We just have to wait and see what comes in,” Sauer said, referring to any revised plans.

The two restaurants would share the property at 1346 Port Washington Rd. currently occupied by Office Max.

Chick-fil-A — which previously paired its restaurant with a bank proposal — is proposing a 5,304-square-foot restaurant with a two-lane drive through and a parking lot with 46 parking stalls, more than the 22 allowed by code, according to a memo from Sauer to the commission.

The popular restaurant would operate three shifts, from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, the memo states, adding there would be as many as 30 employees working per shift.

Cafe Zupas, which would be south of the Chick-fil-A, would be 2,916-square-feet with a two-lane drive through and a parking lot with 30 parking stalls, as well as three for drive-through pickup. Village codes only allow for 12 stalls, the memo states.

The restaurant would be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with two shifts of as many as nine workers.

The memo notes that construction of the two restaurants would begin in August and they are slated to open in February 2027.

The memo also states that the Chick-fil-A  plan only has 26% green space compared to the 35% minimum allowed by code, while the Cafe Zupas proposal has 34.9% green space, below the required 35%.

The village staff noted that if the restaurants reduce the amount of parking, it can more easily meet the green space requirements, and suggested that it could request a shared parking arrangement with Home Depot if more stalls are needed. 

The memo also suggested reducing the size of the free-standing canopies for Chick-fil-A by creating single-lane canopies such as those in other southeastern Wisconsin locations.

In other action, the commission tabled action on a request by Nathan Remitz for a conditional-use permit for the former Grafton Mobile gas station at 1117 Washington St.

The village is waiting for more information from Remitz before any action will be taken, Sauer said.

Remitz has proposed reopening the gas station and convenience store as Hometown Gas Station but eliminating the service bays, he said, noting the convenience store would be expanded into the existing service area.

According to the staff memo, the gas pumps were active but there was no on-site staffing beginning in January 2025. The pumps closed in April.