Chick-Fil-A restaurant proposal is rejected by council

Concerns from residents centered on heavy traffic

The Campbell City Council has deep-fried a proposal for a new Chick-Fil-A, siding with dozens of residents who opposed it.

The unanimous vote this week — after an hourslong discussion and heavy vocal opposition from residents — overturned a November Planning Commission decision to allow the fastfood spot to be built at 2060 South Bascom Ave., where a Denny’s currently operates.

Residents opposed to the approval had filed an appeal to the council, raising concerns centered on traffic that could stem from the eatery and spill into nearby neighborhoods, or clog main roads as people queue up for the drive-thru.

“This isn’t about chicken,” Jean Lund, a resident, told the council Tuesday night. “It’s about traffic and keeping our main roads that we all have to use, Winchester, Hamilton and Bascom, workable, with the increased traffic that we’re all going to have to deal with in the future.”

Though in the previous Planning Commission hearing, some residents had raised concerns about Chick-Fil-A ownership’s donations to groups with antiLGBTQ policies, most people opposed to the chain location focused their ire Tuesday on the estimated 2,300 daily car trips the place could generate.

“You can spin this any way you like, but we’ll have serious traffic issues if we put this here,” Lund added.

Some residents and council members also expressed concern that other businesses nearby could be adversely affected by a long line of customers waiting for the drive-thru in their cars.

“This site is surrounded on three sides by singlefamily residences,” Vice Mayor Liz Gibbons said at the meeting. “This business could have a negative impact on the rest of the block, particularly Mr. Pickles (the sandwich chain) because that driveway could easily be blocked.”

After the unanimous vote to deny the project, the audience packed into the chambers cheered and clapped for nearly 20 seconds, some standing, and one person yelled, “So awesome!”

In October, the City Council rejected a proposed In-N-Out restaurant on nearby 499 E. Hamilton Ave., also over traffic concerns, though the vote was split 3-2.

City studies said the Chik-Fil-A would have a “less than significant” impact on traffic in the area. However, some residents including Catherine Clock, one of the people who filed an appeal to the city, said the studies ignored the likelihood that many people will cut through neighborhoods when traffic in the area is heavy, especially with app-guided navigation.

“As our main arteries overflow, the apps will continue to expand traffic through the neighborhoods from all directions,” she said. Clock likened the scenario to what Los Gatos has contended with in trying to keep people off of city streets when traffic on Highway 17 is thick.

Councilman Rich Waterman said in an interview Wednesday he was “on the fence” about denying the Chik-Fil-A but said the concerns of those from the nearby neighborhood, where he also lives, “weighed heavily” on him.

Still, he’s still worried about the overall commercial health along Bascom south of the Pruneyard Shopping Center as many restaurants have closed and some storefronts are sitting empty.

“We’re putting this model in saying we want somebody to put a nice building in, but we don’t want them to be too successful because there will be a lot of traffic, so that puts us in something of a conundrum as a council,” he said.

“As a council, it’s easy to say no. Now the question is ‘What goes in there,’ because if there’s a housing proposal, there’s going to be a lot of opposition to that, too.”

The council said Tuesday the resolution to deny the Chik-Fil-A will be finalized at a meeting in February.