A proposed Chick-fil-A 'mega' restaurant in Tennessee is sparking backlash and fears of drive-thru traffic
Photo by Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Residents in Tennessee are battling a plan for a "mega" Chick-fil-A in their neighborhood.
- Chick-fil-A has previously faced complaints from communities over its out-of-control drive-thrus lines.
- City officials will vote on the project on January 8.
Chick-fil-A's busy drive-thrus are under attack again.
A plan for a "mega" Chick-fil-A store in Tennessee is the latest project to encounter backlash from locals concerned about the fast-food chain's frequently crowded drive-thrus lines. The chain has faced opposition for its snaking drive-thru lines which can cause traffic.
In Collierville, Tennessee, Chick-fil-A has proposed replacing a 23-year-old 3,950-square-foot restaurant with a larger one to accommodate the growing consumer demand. Chain reps are billing the proposed 6,110-square-foot restaurant as the "latest greatest prototype Chick-fil-A has" in its system.
Chick-fil-A's development director, Brent Edmiston, who spoke on behalf of the chain at a December 7 Planning Commission meeting in Collierville, said the new design would include a 300-square-foot playground, an employee meeting room, a bigger dining room, double drive-thru lanes with the capacity to handle 43 cars, and expanded outdoor dining.
Like many Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country, cars at the current location spill into the main thoroughfare, causing traffic congestion.
Chick-fil-A said the bigger restaurant, proposed for an empty lot about a half-mile down the road, is expected to contain cars within two double drive-thru lanes that wrap the restaurant. The only access to the restaurant will be from a private drive to the north.
City planners and Chick-fil-A representatives said the restaurant's new location and upgraded design will prevent cars from backing up onto one of the city's busiest thoroughfares, Poplar Avenue.
But residents who live near the proposed location are balking. They said the new "mega" Chick-fil-A will result in more cars clogging local roads.
"They're building a significantly larger store for one reason and one reason only. It's to sell more chicken," resident Woody Reid said at the meeting, where locals submitted a petition signed by 500 people against the Chick-fil-A relocation project.
Chick-fil-A did not return a request for additional comment.
At the meeting, Edmiston said he thought "building the largest restaurant in the company" would evoke a "positive" reaction from the community because the new restaurant would have "all the tools" to serve the city.
"We've not been able to do that at our existing restaurant," Edmiston said, referring to accommodating demand for catering, delivery, and mobile orders. "We cannot serve customers with all these different service channels because we have not had the capacity to do that because the size of our site and the size of our restaurant."
Resident Raymond Descheneaux said Chick-fil-A is not solving traffic congestion in the neighborhood by relocating the restaurant. They are simply "shifting" the current problem from one neighborhood to another.
"And then building a mega CFA multiples the problem," he wrote in a letter to the city.
City of Colliersville
Despite the protests, the Planning Commission voted in favor of the project. The city's Board of Mayor and Aldermen will vote on the project on Monday, January 8.
"If the Board approves the preliminary site plan, Chick-fil-A will still need to apply for a final site plan and building permit before they construct the new restaurant," city spokesperson Jennifer Casey told Business Insider.
In a similar case last year, a busy Chick-fil-A in North Carolina solved its traffic issues by demolishing the restaurant and replacing it with a store with no dining room and more drive-thru lanes.
Chick-fil-A is testing different prototypes to accommodate consumer demand for takeout and delivery. The chain has more than 30 drive-thru-only locations in the US. It also has plans to build an elevated restaurant that has four drive-thru lanes that flow below the store.
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