Fans of Chick-fil-A won’t be getting an additional restaurant opening in Boca Raton, as the city listened to a public outcry over traffic and safety concerns — and rejected the plan.
In a stunning reversal, a new Chick-fil-A restaurant will no longer be built in Boca Raton along Federal Highway after the significant backlash from neighbors.
City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to deny the project after a marathon meeting that lasted nearly seven hours and included public testimony from more than a dozen residents in opposition. Following the vote, residents in attendance erupted in applause with one person yelling, “Thank you!”
“The community has come out and said they don’t want this here,” City Council member Yvette Drucker said during the public meeting. “Just because it’s allowed [by city code] doesn’t mean it belongs there.”
The fast-food chain, which has achieved growing popularity over the years, has seen customers flock to new locations, at times contributing to significant gridlock, including one Fort Lauderdale location along Federal Highway that has drawn complaints from city officials.
The denial in Boca Raton culminated a drama-filled ordeal with various twists and turns. The restaurant had previously been approved by the city in June, but the developer asked for additional concessions, which then reopened the entire proposal to the City Council.
Dealing with success?
The Chick-fil-A was slated to be part of a massive overhaul to a 3.5-acre property at 2700 N. Federal Highway, which is currently home to a Best Western hotel.
Under the proposal, the hotel would be demolished and three one-story buildings would take its place, with the Chick-fil-A being located on the south end of the property and adjacent to a residential community, Harbor East.
The drive-thru would have had side-by-side lanes, allowing for 44 cars in the drive-thru on the property.
Residents of Harbor East have relentlessly opposed the project, arguing it will cause significant safety and traffic problems along Federal Highway and in their neighborhood.
Despite pushback, Boca Raton’s Planning and Zoning Board approved the Chick-fil-A in June, but with various stipulations, including that the developer bury utility lines, which would have cost more than $500,000, according to a city presentation.
Had the developer agreed to the terms, the approval would have been final and the proposal would not have gone before the City Council. But the developer elected to appeal the undergrounding of power lines and the phasing of construction. Initially, the Chick-fil-A was set to be built in the third and final phase of construction, but developers requested they be allowed to build that first.
By doing that, the City Council was then allowed to examine the entire site plan, opening the door to additional scrutiny and giving residents one final chance to plead their case.
‘You wouldn’t put a Costco on Federal Highway’
On Tuesday night, more than a dozen residents spoke for more than 70 minutes in opposition, detailing their problems with the proposal in a coordinated fashion, in which each speaker addressed a different concern.
Speakers outlined traffic and safety issues as a result of the popular Chick-fil-A locations across the country, including drive-thru traffic that spills out onto main roads.
“They’re unlike any other fast food drive-thru restaurant,” Boca Raton resident Chris Dinallo said. “They are their own beast. The amount of volume they process per hour, per day, six days a week.”
“You wouldn’t put a Costco on Federal Highway and that’s how you should think about it.”
Residents also brought up the fact the city passed a resolution in October that directs city staff to create a plan to create a “Vision Zero Action Plan to establish a goal of no severe traffic injuries or fatalities.”
“Isn’t this time to stand behind your own resolution that just passed in October?” Dinallo said. “This is the perfect example that set that resolution in motion. Show the community, show the residents that you care about the city and are willing to stand up and do something.”
Speaking on behalf of the developer, attorney Todd Ambruster elected not to address the concerns brought up by the residents during the public meeting. Instead, he spoke for a little over two minutes, saying they were resting on their presentations from previous meetings and that the city attorney was incorrect in her determination that entire site plan should be under review.
City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser, however, reiterated that was not the case and the developer couldn’t choose to limit it to their two objections.
City Council members agreed with the residents, voicing their concerns over the project.
“To place a 44-car stack seems like an enormous amount of cars to me,” City councilwoman Andrea O’Rourke said. “Knowing that we have committed to [our new traffic safety resolution] and supported that, would we then also stand by 44 cars stacking at one restaurant?”
Whether the developer would further challenge the issue remains to be seen. Attempts by the South Florida Sun Sentinel to reach Ambruster were unsuccessful.
As a result of Tuesday’s decision, there will be just one Chick-fil-A drive-thru location within Boca Raton city limits.
Last year, the city approved a Chick-fil-A for Palmetto Park Square, a shopping center just east of Interstate 95. Farther west, in the unincorporated part of the county, a new Chick-fil-A opened at the Uptown Boca complex on Glades Road, just east of U.S. 441.
