Anyone who mistakingly visits Cullman’s future Chick-fil-a Hwy. 157 on a Sunday morning may not be able to place an order, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to leave hungry. Instead, they may find themselves feeding their souls during a service at the adjacent, relocated Church of the Nazarene.

The future Chick-fil-a was one of two civil site plans approved by the city of Cullman Planning Commission on Monday, Oct. 7, along with renovations and expansions to redevelop the current West Elementary School campus into a single intermediate school to house all grade 3-5 grade students.

The commission’s approval for the restaurant came with several contingencies which the project’s engineering firm, the Auburn, Alabama based Foresight Group, will be required to address including abandoning the site’s existing water meter at some point after construction is completed and recalculating the plan’s parking lot estimates to account for one space for every two seats in the restaurant.

The plan shows the restaurant being constructed at the current location of Cullman Nazarene Church, located at 5415 Alabama Hwy. 157, and included plans to demolish the church’s sanctuary building. Cullman Jefferson Gas requested Foresight Group to notify them prior to demolition so the building’s gas services could be safely rerouted to CNC’s Family Life Center, located just behind the sanctuary. The city of Cullman’s building department will also require cross access agreements between the church and Chick-fil-a to be in place before the plan receives final approval.

CNC Pastor Scott Sessions was attending an out of town conference and unable to be reached for comment Tuesday, Oct. 8. However, the church announced it would be adding nearly 6,000 square feet to the Family Life Center through a Facebook post Sunday, Sept. 29. According to that post, the addition will be primarily designed for children and teenagers, but will also include renovations to several of the building’s existing spaces.

“This will be a beautiful project that will serve generations to come! We are blessed to stand on the shoulders of so many that have sacrificed time, money and service to make sure the message of Holiness could be proclaimed on this hill,” the post read.

Approval for the Cullman Intermediate School also came with a handful of relatively small contingencies. Cullman Jefferson Gas noted a number of gas lines servicing the existing campus will need to be removed and relocated and the city of Cullman’s Legal Department requested a deed swap be completed between the city and the Cullman City School district.

Commissioners Cheryl Calvert, who serves as the CCS School Board president, and Jay Page, West Elementary Principal, both abstained from the commissions vote for approval for the project.

In other business, the commission granted a favorable recommendation for the annexation of a two acre property located at the intersection of Alabama Hwy. 31 and Phelan Road.