Drive thru Panera coming in front of At Home

By Lisa Brody

A new Panera Bread with a drive thru, to be located in the parking lot in front of At Home in Bloomfield Township, was unanimously approved by the township board of trustees at their meeting on Monday, April 11.

A Panera Bread restaurant had previously been located just south of the location along Telegraph Road.

Andrea Bibby, deputy director of planning, building and ordinance, explained Stanford United, LP and Panera, LIC have submitted a joint site plan for a new Panera Bread restaurant to be built on the At Home Store property at 2101 S. Telegraph Road. The new building will be constructed closer to Telegraph Road in front of the At Home retail store, and will include a drive thru with two drive thru lanes and 16 stacking spaces.

Bibby said the new special land use request is considered one site with two uses, “which is not unusual in the township.” She said it complies with all zoning ordinances. The new building is planned to be 3,547 square feet with the drive thru. Along with the At Home store, there are 272 parking spaces on site, and 172 are required for the two locations, meaning they have more than enough.

Hours of operation are planned to be the same as the previous location, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Bibby said there will be no changes to ingress and egress for the shopping center off Telegraph, and Panera was designed to minimize impact on adjacent parking aisles.

Trustees unanimously approved the site plan an special land use request.