Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Hartland Township Planning Commission on Thursday gave preliminary approval for Chick-Fil-A to demolish the old Big Boy and build new on that location off M-59 just east of U.S. 23.

The move comes several months after the fast-food giant backed away from its initial proposal for the former Burger King on the southside of M-59 due to residents' concerns over traffic congestion.

"Our goal with this site was to use as much as the infrastructure as possible," said a represenative from Chick-Fil-A. "Obviously, the building would not be reused, but the majority of the parking lot we're going to keep as is and try to do a mill and overlay to give it that fresh look."

"Landscaping, we're trying to keep as much there as possible, and just supplement and add to that fresh look."

While Chick-Fil-A continues talks with MDOT about minimizing congestion along M-59, the Livingston County Road Commission made no recommendations since the restaurant plans to access existing traffic patters already in place.

"There is a current access from Hartland Road that comes in. It is in only, so this would not be an exit. It would just be an entrance to the site," Planning Director Troy Langer told the commission.

"There's an access from M-59 that would be in, right turning. And then right turn out only. So there would be no left turn movement from this particular access. The backside is a private road called Rovey, and this would connect to Rovey and would have in as well as out traffic movement."

Langer said Chick-Fil-A still has several more steps at the local and county level before any final decision is made.