Chick-fil-A wants more space

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on March 10, 2021

Chick-fil-A’s traffic plan can now handle 30 vehicles. A dual lane will allow it to handle 40.

The Chick-fil-A restaurant at 20 State Farm Drive in Concord Township wants more room and is going through a conditional use hearing to get it. Specifically, the restaurant wants to construct a 240-square foot addition to its current building and add a second drive-thru lane.

Additionally, the applicant wants to relocate the ADA parking spaces and modify the sidewalk connection to State Farm Drive.

The hearing was opened and closed on March 9, with no person or party offering any objection or opposition. A decision is expected during the council's April 6 meeting.

Chick-fil-A initially filed the plans for the renovation in 2019. The township's Zoning Hearing Board approved the plans in March of that year, and the Planning Commission recommended approval in February of this year, according to attorney Tyler Prime, representing Chick-fil-A.

But Prime said the applicant also wants some outdoor seating — four tables with two seats each. That seating — which Prime said has nothing to do with COVID — and the additional drive-thru lane caused the need for the conditional use hearing.

The reason for the renovations, he said, is to update the building and bring it in line with updated corporate standards. Chad Baker, Chick-fil-A's project manager, said the renovations would make the store "more relevant from an aesthetic standpoint and also from a functional standpoint."

Baker went on to say that the changes would expedite service, both for ordering and delivering the food. The additional space provided by the requested addition would provide for an additional assembly table to help process orders more quickly, and an employee would be able to walk food out to a customer waiting in a car to avoid making that person wait longer because an order in front is large or has a problem for some reason.

Traffic engineer Sandy Koza said the current single drive-thru lane accommodates 30 cars, but the double lane would allow up to 44 vehicles.

If the council approves the changes, the restaurant will be closed for eight to 10 weeks for construction.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.