The Panera Bread restaurant at Village West shopping center, 3100 W. Tilghman St., will relocate to the vacant Outback Steakhouse site in the northwest section of the property.

South Whitehall commissioners reviewed the proposal at a recent meeting and granted permission to the applicant, Cedar Crest Associates, to proceed without undergoing the land development process.

Panera, which is presently in the main portion of the shopping center, intends to demolish portions of the existing Outback building to make room for an outdoor patio.

Panera officials also plan to construct a drive-thru pickup window with six stacking spaces for vehicles in the queue.

The remaining space will be renovated internally for Panera.

Panera will join Parma Pizza, MiChong’s, and Chipotle in the multi-tenant building on the Cedar Crest Boulevard side of the shopping center.

The 143,371-square-foot Village West also includes a Giant supermarket and various other established occupants.

Improvements on the east side of the relocated Panera include a new sidewalk and landscaping.

Drive-thru equipment such as menus, order boards and signage will be set in place.

The modifications result in a loss of five parking spaces, however, with 754 total spaces on the site, the plan remains compliant with township requirements.

Before the vote for waiving the formal land development process, planner Gregg Adams of the department of community development, commented.

“In-house staff and township engineering consultants have reviewed the plans and find the project to be low impact and presenting no significant planning issues,” Adams said.