Representatives for a fast-casual chain specializing in chicken finger meals will try for the third time Wednesday to gain approval to build on a site on bustling Hall Road in Sterling Heights.

But the city’s planning department says Raising Cane’s doesn’t meet the necessary traffic criteria and other requirements, and therefore should be denied approval.

Specifically, planners say they are worried about excessive traffic backups going into and from the wildly popular eatery. That’s the most significant of the “many concerns” the planning office has about the project, according to a letter from the department.

“The Office of Planning’s recommendation of denial could be based on that issue alone due to its level of importance,” planning officials said in the letter.

Raising Cane’s, a Baton Rouge, La.-based fast food restaurant chain, is seeking a conditional rezoning for a 1.6 acre site of the former Chili’s restaurant in front of the Sterling Town Center office complex.

But city officials are concerned about traffic and crash issues if Raising Cane’s is allowed to build by the five-story Sterling Town Center building they say is one of the area’s most successful properties.

Other factors listed include increased traffic from the eatery would mean additional crashes, the site plan contains insufficient parking spaces, and claims Raising Cane’s would be “disruptive and detrimental” to the nearby Sterling Town Center, which has a number of well-known businesses including UHY, Connect Macomb, and three law firms. City officials say it is one of the most “desirable” office spaces in Sterling Heights, with a 95% occupancy rate.

The proposal has twice been before the Sterling Heights Planning Commission but postponed as the two sides continue with discussion and modifications to improve traffic flow into the site and vehicles exiting.

Other issues raised by the planning department include the property is designated as office under the 2025 Master Land Use Plan, and a fast-food use would adversely affect Sterling Town Center’s parking. Also, both the planning and police departments have requested traffic management plans to handle grand opening activities, but haven’t received any.

Benjamin Aloia, the attorney for Sterling Hall, the LLC proposing the project, said that developers have tweaked the traffic plan to adjust it to what Sterling Heights is looking for. They are asking for approval to rezone the property from O-3 (high-rise office commercial service district) to C-3 (general business), which would allow the freestanding restaurant.

According to Aloia, there is adequate ingress and egress to handle the anticipated traffic generated from Raising Cane’s. He said the firm will be working with Michigan Department of Transportation officials about various lane striping on Hall Road (M59) for traffic leaving the site and warning motorists not to drive across four lanes of eastbound Hall Road to make a “Michigan left.”

Aloia says he has a signed lease with the developers to build a 3,500-square-foot restaurant once they demolish the existing Chili’s building, which has been vacant for three years

Raising Cane’s sells only chicken finger meals that come with crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and a proprietary add-on known as Cane’s sauce.

The company has over 600 locations in the United States, according to its website, and the company plans to expand to over 1,500 restaurants across the country. The state’s only other locations are in East Lansing and Canton.

According to various media reports, the company’s first location in metro Detroit, the Canton store, attracted hundreds of diners.

In January, Raising Cane’s withdrew its request to build a new restaurant on Gratiot Avenue, south of 23 Mile Road in Chesterfield Township. The company decided to move on from the location “due to ongoing challenges they’ve been facing,” a company official said in an email to the township.

Wednesday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Sterling Heights City Hall, 40555 Utica Road.