Sonic Drive-In plans July opening in Kent

Sonic Drive-In plans to open its first Kent location in July.

Ben Wolters, city economic and community development director, gave the latest opening date to the Kent City Council earlier this month. He said he gets more questions about Sonic than any other business. The interest reminds him of when people always asked about Trader’s Joe coming to town before it opened in 2014 on the East Hill.

“We are working with them to make it happen,” Wolters said about a July opening. “It’s still an aggressive schedule to get permits before the end of the year, start construction and open in July.”

City officials announced in May that Sonic would be coming to Kent.

The restaurant will be built on the northeast corner of 116th Avenue Southeast and Kent Kangley Road. City staff worked with the developer to allow access closer to the corner at the busy intersection.

“The curb cut where you drive your car in and out of, we will allow closer to the corner than we normally would but with the agreement that as the site expands and grows, the developer would be moving that curb cut off of busy Kent Kangley and further away from the corner,” Wolters said.

The restaurant will go up on the empty lot on the corner. The developer wants to purchase other properties east of the site to make room for other businesses. The site already has enough space for Sonic.

“There are single-family structures on land zoned commercial,” Wolters said of the nearby properties. “Our zoning for the corner anticipates greater commercial development, so the developer is seeking to exercise our land-use plan for that corner.”

Sonic started in 1953 in Oklahoma and has more than 3,500 locations in 45 states. It serves about 3 million customers daily and features carhops at many locations. The nearest locations to Kent include Bonney Lake, Puyallup, Tacoma, Poulsbo and Lacey.

For more information, go to sonicdrivein.com.