The Ripon Planning Commission will conduct a Major Site Review next week for the proposed Burger King and Popeye’s Chicken restaurants.

Construction of the two major fast-food franchises, pending approval, would be located at 744 N. Jack Tone Rd. on a 1.1-acre parcel in an area zoned for Mixed Use.

Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 16) in the Council Chambers. 259 N. Wilma Ave. In order to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the meeting will not be open to the public – livestreaming will be available at www.cityofripon.org while public comments can be addressed to the Planning Director at cityclerk@cityofripon.org by 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

According to Planning Director Ken Zuidervaart, the proposed Burger King and Popeye’s will both feature drive-thru service windows with neither being open between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m.

Under the plans, the 2,610-square-feet Burger King building would be constructed on the southeast corner of the site – near Les Schwab Tires – with vehicles queuing for the drive-thru to south side of the building adjacent to the shared driveway entrance for the entire shopping center.

Popeye’s Chicken, a 2,306 square foot building, would be constructed on the north boundary of the site. Cars would enter the north side of the building for the drive-thru service.

The main access to the site would be several existing commercial driveways, including two off Jack Tone Road and four off Kamps Way.

“Most likely, the main access points will be from the driveway approaches off Jack Tone Road,” said Zuidervaart in his report. “Additionally, three driveway entrances will be constructed to access the individual site.”

The off-street parking facility for the entire site would consist of 42 spaces including 30 standard, four handicap and eight compact spaces.

Thus far, the City of Ripon held a meeting on Feb. 4 featuring the project review committee and applicant of the project. Both discussed concerns and conditions of approval during the review period.

Those findings will also be available for the upcoming session.

City staff will recommend approval of the Burger King / Popeye’s Major Site Permit based on those findings and subject to the condition of the staff report.

Commissioners, if all goes accordingly, would adopt the Negative Declaration for the project as well.