Residents awaiting the arrival of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen are one step closer to that first bite, as the Peru City Council approved Monday the final plat for Popeye’s subdivision.

“This should be the final phase,” Mayor Ken Kolowski said. “So, hopefully this is the final step of this project.”

The Peru City Council unanimously OK-ed a resolution Monday approving AbyPeru, Inc.’s request to divide the Popeyes subdivision into three lots.

Corporate Counsel Scott Schweickert said from his understanding of the May 29 Planning and Zoning hearing the engineering group was waiting on this approval to begin development.

“But they are ready,” he said. “They got bids from different contractors to start the site work and my understanding from the meeting is they should start very soon.”

The agreement allows AbyPeru to reshape the property into three lots, and the deal includes fee waivers. According to the minutes of the Planning and Zoning meeting, Chris Perry, the project engineer, said a Popeye’s restaurant will have two adjacent lots available for future development.

In May 2023, the city approved the $300,000 purchase agreement at the formal municipal property located at 1839 and 1841 May Road.

AbyGroups purchased about 4 acres from the city, averaging about $78,000 per acre. The city closed on the property in January.

The council approved last September combining the property into a single parcel, now 1843 May Road, a waiver from the stormwater drainage requirements, a variance reducing the number of required parking spaces and a variance to increase the height request for a free-standing sign following a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The council approved 2,515 square feet with a quick-serve, drive-thru restaurant. The proposed site plan would include 20 parking spaces instead of the city’s zoning ordinance, which said no less than 26.

Developers for the restaurant were not on-hand Monday to give an updated timeline for construction.

Kolowski said he has received questions about the project for about a year but it’s not up to the city for developers to begin construction.

“I know the community is excited about it,” he said. “But this is the final phase. The plat now is done. I just signed it (Monday) and they should be breaking ground hopefully this month.”

Update on Five Below’s construction in Peru

Kolowski touched on the rumors circulating the construction of a Five Below.

“There was a hiccup with the construction company doing Five Below that has since been resolved,” Kolowski said. “We were told and construction should start up again very, very soon.”