Boone County could be home to a new fast-casual burger restaurant if its owners get the green light from the county planning commission and fiscal court.
GreenbergFarrow, a Frankfort-based architecture firm, submitted a request for a concept development change for a 1.55-acre parcel of land on the northwest side of Houston Road in Florence. If approved, the change would lead to the construction of a 3,500-square-foot drive-thru restaurant with 93 indoor seats and two drive-thru lanes.
The restaurant, called Jagger, serves burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, salads and milkshakes. The franchise is a subsidiary of Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse. The Florence store would be the third in Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington. The franchise has 14 locations in the United States and one in South Korea.
“Just so you guys all know, Jaggers is a concept, one of Texas Roadhouse’s concepts,” said Brandon Goldberg, a representative of GreenbergFarrow. “It’s a fast casual restaurant with a drive-thru component.”
Emily Taylor, a representative of Texas Roadhouse, said that Jagger’s business is about evenly split between the drive-thru and dining in. Approximately 65% of their business comes during lunchtime and the other 35% at dinner, she said.
The parcel of land is located between Family Allergy & Asthma and Texas Roadhouse, with frontage on Houston Road and access through Spiral Drive and Thoroughbred Boulevard.
On Nov. 5, the Boone County Planning Commission held a public hearing for residents to express their opinions on the upcoming project. Marissa Tillery, the only resident to speak, voiced concerns about traffic flow and potential safety issues with left turns if the restaurant is built.
“My other concern would be just the in and out logistics of traffic in this area, because really the only way to get in would be like this right here, where you turn right off of spiral drive, and then you’re going to have a lot of traffic in and out in this area,” Tillery said. “That’s going to reduce your parking for Texas Roadhouse, being that the entrance to the building is right there.”
Planning Commission Chairman Charlie Rolfsen said the legislative body would consider discussing potential improvements, such as “pork chop” islands to prevent illegal turns and added pedestrian lighting across the parking lot.
Due to the restaurant’s potential location near Texas Roadhouse, a question was raised about whether it would affect Texas Roadhouse’s parking capacity. Taylor assured the commission that the new construction would not impact any parking capacity at Texas Roadhouse.
“We’re hoping not to take any of the building to the right of the drive-thru canopy,” she said. “Everything would either be within the cross parking, within the rest of the development, or to the left of the site between us and the asthma center.”
The next step for the project is to be heard by the planning commission’s zone change subcommittee on November 19. If it passes, it will be presented to the entire planning commission and put to a vote.
