Business

Bojangles seeks OK to build fourth location in county

Map shows location of a proposed drive-thru Bojangles at the corner of Old Highway 64 and Brevard Road in Etowah. [HENDERSON COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT]

By Bill Moss, Published: December 12, 2025

ETOWAH — Etowah could get its first fast-food sandwich chain if a question is resolved about sewer access.

Property owner Cold Steel & Sunshine LLC of Brevard wants to build a drive-thru only Bojangles on a commercial parcel at the southwest corner of Old Highway 64 and Brevard Road. The Henderson County Board of Adjustment last week granted a variance to allow construction of the chicken-focused restaurant without an extra lane around the drive-thru lane.

The county land development code says “passage lanes shall be provided to the outer edge of the (drive-thru) stacking lane to ensure the adequate flow of traffic” around the site. The developer has made multiple site changes to “accommodate the lack of space” on the triangle-shaped lot, including the design of a drive-thru only building that minimizes the need for parking, adding that “All parking can be accessed through full-width, two-way drive aisles.”

At a meeting of the county Technical Review Committee last month, the developer's representative, Duane Ensor, noted that right of way encroachment from both Brevard Road and Old Highway 64 reduces the buildable area from three-quarters to one-third of an acre. Ensor reiterated that the Bojangles would be drive-thru only and that the site would offer parking for six employees.

The zoning request could be the lesser of the developer’s two challenges. The Etowah Sewer Co. is currently under a moratorium that prevents it from granting new taps.

“We did tell them that we’re under a state-issued moratorium,” County Engineer Marcus Jones said last month. “There’s not enough capacity based on the flow we’re receiving. That’s not something we created, that’s something we inherited” when the county bought the private sewer system in 2024. However, because a building was previously on the site, Bojangles "should be able to connect to Etowah Sewer as an existing service," Jones said at the Nov. 18 TRC meeting, according to minutes.

Although Etowah does have a Domino’s pizza shop, a Bojangles would be its first fast-food franchise serving biscuits, sandwiches and chicken dinners. There’s no burger franchise in Etowah or Horse Shoe. Based in Charlotte, Bojangles has 800 restaurants in 17 states, including three in Henderson County.