Goodbye, Bugaboo Creek; hello, Olive Garden. The former Bugaboo Creek restaurant on North Glynn Street just south of the Fayette Pavilion could become the new Fayetteville Olive Garden restaurant.
Preliminary plans for the demolition of the old building and construction of the new restaurant were proposed July 12. The Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission will take up the issue again on July 26.
Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants is proposing to demolish the existing building and replace it with a 7,537-square-foot restaurant that would meet the design characteristics of the corporate prototype, according to city Senior Planner Linwood Robinson.
The proposal for the building’s exterior includes simulated stone and tile roofing with a pitched roof design with Italian-style architecture.
Robinson said the new building would occupy a similar footprint as the existing structure with similar lot orientation. The demolition would include the removal of the existing building, sidewalks surrounding the structure, parking lot and some of the related utilities. Also, site lighting will be replaced to conform to Olive Garden and city standards. Access to the site would take place by two curb cuts located on the north and south sides of the lot, Robinson said.
Parking would be reconfigured and would include 123 spaces, meeting the requirement of one parking space for each two seats in the 246-seat restaurant, according to development plans.
There is a highway buffer required with the construction of the site which would be adhered to by the applicant in terms of existing plantings, Robinson said. The required and significant plantings in this area would remain and were part of the original restaurant development. The construction of the building would include the installation of significant new landscaping around the building pad area, within parking lot islands and around entrances to the property, Robinson added.
City planning staff is recommending approval contingent on the applicant providing samples of the building’s exterior.
Darden Restaurants is the owner of the Olive Garden chain and the LongHorn Steak House being constructed a few lots to the south on North Glynn Street. The company also owns other restaurant chains such as Red Lobster, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.
