A zoning variance request on behalf of Raising Cane’s Restaurants LLC, with Cody Rogers of EMC Engineering Services listed as representative, is expected to be on Statesboro City Council’s agenda for the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting.
The concept sketched in the city’s development services report is for a new Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers restaurant to be built on the lot currently occupied by the former Applebee’s on Highway 80 East.
The city’s appointed Planning Commission, by a 6-0 vote Sept. 2, recommended approval of the variance, Planning and Development Director Justin Williams affirmed. But City Council will have a final say.
The existing zoning is MX, or mixed use, and of course this area of Northside Drive East, or U.S. Highway 80 East, is already heavily commercially developed. So, if it were just a question of one restaurant replacing another, no zoning decision would be needed.
As the “history” segment of the city staff report notes: “The property and the surrounding area were developed into commercial/retail spaces in the late 1990s. It has been a restaurant since about 1998.”
Double drive-thru
But as stated in the next paragraph of the report, a variance has been requested because MX zoning ordinarily requires a maximum 25-foot building setback.
The proposed project is “for a new building, with a 75-foot building setback, to allow vehicle queuing and a double drive thru on site,” states the “request” section of the report.
In fact, the overhead-view site sketch outlines two drive-thru lanes filled with cars passing between the suggested new Raising Cane’s building and the property line that runs alongside Ole Times Country Buffet. Currently, there’s hardly room for an alley between the former Applebee’s building and Ole Times, let alone two rows of cars, ordering kiosks and additional space.
But within the sketch of the 1.53-acre lot, the square representing the proposed new building is placed closer to the corner of Bernard Lane and the highway. The square is labeled with the Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers logo and a building area of 2,683 square feet. In the Bulloch County Board of Tax Assessors’ public database, the existing former Applebee’s building is listed as a 4,321-square-foot commercial improvement.
So, the Raising Cane’s proposal apparently calls for a smaller building but dedicates a larger portion of the lot to space for vehicles. This includes the parking lot, with a few mobile-order pickup spaces and handicapped spaces closer to the building, in addition to the double drive-thru drawn with two corner turns to pass around three sides of the building.
A phone call and message attempt to Rogers’ office at the engineering firm did not result in a callback Thursday. Likewise, the reporter’s call to a Raising Cane’s “customer support staff” number, requesting information about a new location in Statesboro, was put through to the voicemail of someone said to be involved with “real estate for Georgia” but did not result in a same-day reply.
Raising a billionaire
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers was founded in 1996 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Todd Graves and Craig Silvey. Only Graves is mentioned on the corporate website as still involved with the company. The business magazine Forbes this year listed Graves 46th among the Forbes 400 richest Americans and as the wealthiest resident of Louisiana, with an estimated $17.2 billion “net worth.”
The brief profile at www.forbes.com/profile/todd-graves/ also reports that Raising Cane’s has about 900 locations in 42 states.
Applebee’s to Cosmic Que
Statesboro’s only Applebee’s restaurant closed in early April 2017 after about 18 years in business.
Cosmic Que LLC purchased the property at 24087 Hwy. 80 East, including the 1.53 acres as well as the building, from Apple of Statesboro LLC for $1.6 million on May 15, 2023, according to the Board of Assessors’ page.
The 2025 tax valuation was $1.79 million, with the land alone appraised by the county at $1.21 million, or about $790,000 an acre.
Cosmic Que LLC is based in Statesboro with Jason T. Franklin, one of the partners of the Bull and Barrel restaurant, as its registered agent. They launched Cosmic Cowboy Barbecue, which operated in a food trailer on the former Applebee’s parking lot from spring 2024 until recently.
But the food trailer is gone now, and messages at the Cosmic Cowboy phone number and Instagram page state that the business is “currently closed as we search for a new restaurant space.”
Chicken loving Statesboro
While fried chicken, chicken tenders/nuggets and other chicken dishes are available at many restaurants and convenience stores in Statesboro and Bulloch County, chicken is the featured specialty at the following local restaurants:
➤ 3 Chick-fil-A
➤ 2 Zaxby’s
➤ 2 Popeyes
➤ Chicken Salad Chick
➤ Buffalo Wild Wings
➤ Wild Wing Café
➤ KFC
➤ Slim Chickens
➤ Huey Magoos
➤ Uncle Shug’s
➤ Wing Maxxx
➤ A-Town Wings
➤ Wingstop