WJOL EXCLUSIVE: Odd Issue Delaying Joliet Fast Food Restaurant

WJOL can exclusively report what is being described as an odd delay for a fast food restaurant coming to Joliet. It was back in April of 2019 that WJOL reported that Chick-Fil-A would be taking over the closed Lonestar Steakhouse on Route 30 in Joliet. WJOL has now learned that an issue dating back to the construction of the Lonestar building is what is causing the delay. When the property was first developed the land was designated as being in a flood-plane. While the developer did what was necessary to channel the water away from the foundation of the building, to avoid future flooding issues, it turns out that the proper paperwork known as a “Letter of Map Amendment” was never filed with FEMA and other regulatory agencies so the property was never removed from the flood plane designation. That means that the initial permits for the original Lonestar should have never been issued.

Failure to file that paperwork years ago now means that the city of Joliet cannot issue the proper permits to Chick-Fil-A to move forward with their redevelopment. Interim City Manager Steve Jones has told WJOL that he believes that Chick-Fil-A will begin to file the paperwork to have that designation removed.

While it is unknown how long the delay will last Jones did say that Chick-Fil-A is still moving forward with plans to open the 5-thousand square foot facility with 140 seats and double drive through but did not know how long the delay would last for.