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A new Farmville restaurant could be coming to South Main Street at some point next year. The town’s planning commission gave unanimous approval to a site plan during their Wednesday, July 17 meeting.

The plan calls for construction at 2004 South Main Street, which had previously been used for car sales. Representing Stonefield, J. Reid Cooksey told the commission the plan is to demolish the existing structure, then build a one-story, 2,325 square foot restaurant with a pick-up window. 

“We’re excited to be in the town of Farmville and (to) revive a kind of aging property along a pretty important commercial corridor in the town,” Cooksey told the commission. 

As part of the plan, the entrance to the site from South Main Street will be closed, replaced with a sidewalk. There will instead be just one way to enter, on the left side of the property at Bowling Lane. And for those nearby, concerned about seeing all the construction, there’s a wooded area to the left of the property. The idea is for that to act as a buffer between this planned Farmville restaurant and the building that fronts Spring Valley Road. 

So with all that in mind, the question now is when will it open? Currently, the construction timeline is set to wrap up by early 2025. And before you ask, no, there’s not a specific restaurant mentioned yet, in either the site plan or anything else submitted to the town. 

“They’d love to break ground by the end of the year, but they definitely want to deliver the pad to the tenant by early spring, summer of next year,” Cooksey said of his clients. “They want to move quickly.” 

Planning commission members said they liked what they saw, praising the complete plan received. This doesn’t need to go to the town council, because restaurants are a use allowed by right in the highway commercial district. 

“I think it looks very thorough and will be a nice addition to town,” Planning Commission member Abigail O’Connor said.