Santa Barbara ready to declare their Chick-Fil-A a public nuisance

[bcla]

The problem is that they have a drive thru and the line is getting ridiculously long where it's backing up into the street. I've seen similar situations with other businesses such as In-N-Out. There are several of those without a drive-thru. One location in Marin County was specifically approved without a drive-thru because of worries that drive-thru traffic would back up into the street.

https://newspress.com/sb-city-council-grapples-with-chick-fil-a-issue/​

At issue is the drive-thru line at the 3707 State St. restaurant becoming so long it backs up into the street, causing traffic and safety concerns.​

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“State Street is one of the city’s most important streets for moving people and goods,” Derrick Bailey, a transportation engineer for the city, said. “It was never intended to operate with significant blockage.”​

Councilmember Kristen Sneddon said Chick-fil-A has potentially outgrown its site, a problem that cannot be mitigated by the city or company.​

State Street doesn't allow parking and only has a narrow shoulder. I could imagine when it backs up it's blocking one lane of traffic since there's room for maybe 8-9 cars. I've seen similar backups at some drive-thru locations, but where it's at a large strip mall where the parking lot can take a bit of traffic, or maybe it's not a busy thoroughfare like State Street in Santa Barbara.

Apparently that's not the only place where it's become an issue. Apparently this location is having a problem because they don't allow customers parked in their lot to eat. I guess they're looking for turnover, which then forces them out into adjoining businesses where they then dump their waste.

https://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/local-news/public-nuisance/​

Chick-Fil-A is well into its second year in Manteca. With the addition of a fourth chicken place within a third of a mile — Raising Cane’s that has created similar but much milder problems — Chick-Fil-A operates as if Yosemite Avenue and Northwoods exists only for their business plan.​

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Chick-Fil-A generated $4.3 billion in sales nationally in 2020. Profits were at $715.9 million up 10.6 percent over 2019 levels.​

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Yet Chick-Fil-A doesn’t have the decency to dump — and therefore pay for garbage collection — for the trash their thousands of customers create when they commandeered an adjoining shopping center’s parking lot. That happens because Chick-Fil-A won’t allow customers to park on its property to eat their meals.​

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Pouring salt into the wounds not only has the area closest to Chick-Fil-A been posted off-limits to Chick-Fil-A customers but the shopping center owners had to pay for extra garbage cans and service to dump them. That’s despite Chick-Fil-A management leaving them with the impression they’d at least do that.​

 

[ronandannette]

...Apparently that's not the only place where it's become an issue. Apparently this location is having a problem because they don't allow customers parked in their lot to eat. I guess they're looking for turnover, which then forces them out into adjoining businesses where they then dump their waste.

..Yet Chick-Fil-A doesn’t have the decency to dump — and therefore pay for garbage collection — for the trash their thousands of customers create when they commandeered an adjoining shopping center’s parking lot. That happens because Chick-Fil-A won’t allow customers to park on its property to eat their meals.​

Never having heard of such a thing before, I'm confused at how they stop people from doing so?

 

[Mysterian]

That's nuts, but I'm not too surprised. There's a Chik-Fil-A on a nearby highway that's extremely choked as well. They have grown to two drive-thru lanes, with staff working outside taking orders. Forget trying to find parking.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Don’t understand the big deal with Chik-Fil-A. It’s not that great of food plus it’s kind of pricey. I’ve been there once and have no desire to return.

 

[Mango7100]

the Chik Fil A closest to me is packed at all hours of the day. Even random times like 3 pm there’s at least 10 cars per lane. It’s good and we stop there as our fast food preference when traveling, but people are excessively crazy over it (and I live in the South, it’s not like you can’t get fried chicken anywhere )

 

[Kennywood]

"Your quality is too good, your service is excellent, and you're too successful!
Therefore, you're a public nuisance!"

Welcome to California.

 

[tvguy]

We have a Chik-Fil-A and an In and Out in the same parking lot with a car wash in between. Always lines at all three. There was an Office Depot store there too, but it closed, so it opened up more space in the parking for cars lining up. All three have employees out organizing the directing traffic.
You can't win. People want successful businesses in their neighborhood, then complain when they have successful businesses in their neighborhood.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have a Chik-Fil-A and an In and Out in the same parking lot

Same here - Chik-Fil-A, In and Out, Del Taco and a bank, all in the same parking lot (with 3 entrances). Getting to the bank anytime between 10:30-2:00 is impossible, all the driveways have lines coming out and, if your "lucky" you can drive the wrong way down the entry lane on one side of the bank to get in.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

It’s crazy here as well. The Bellevue (WA) location is built on a corner lot. That intersection is also the off-ramp for I-405. They’ve had to station a police officer there fairly constantly to ensure the backup doesn’t extend around the corner and block the off-ramp.

I like their food, and was excited when it opened (first in WA state), but we don’t go when the line’s extending into the street… so pretty much 95% of the time we pass by.

 

[BrianL]

It’s crazy here as well. The Bellevue (WA) location is built on a corner lot. That intersection is also the off-ramp for I-405. They’ve had to station a police officer there fairly constantly to ensure the backup doesn’t extend around the corner and block the off-ramp.

I like their food, and was excited when it opened (first in WA state), but we don’t go when the line’s extending into the street… so pretty much 95% of the time we pass by.

Yeah, I like CFA, but if I was going and the line was out into the street I would just keep driving. There is one here where that is pretty common as the parking lot is small. Even with a long line they are pretty efficient, but I am not comfortable jsut hanging out in the street like that.

 

[bcla]

Never having heard of such a thing before, I'm confused at how they stop people from doing so?

Simple. They would either have an employee go out or even hire a security guard. If they see anyone eating in their cars they ask them to leave. If someone refuses, they can escalate. Now my family has waited our car while I went into a place to get takeout, so that's an option.

I remember going to a restaurant with a coworker. I'm not really big on parking in the wrong parking lot, but once a coworker said just do it - park in the office complex next door. She wasn't exactly a big stickler for rules, apparently for going 85 MPH back when the limit just increased to 65. But that time there was a security guard there asking if we had business with a tenant. I've stayed at a motel where they had so many problems with people using their parking who weren't customers that they asked to see a reservation confirmation. They were fully fully booked so there were no walk-ins.

 

[bcla]

Yeah, I like CFA, but if I was going and the line was out into the street I would just keep driving. There is one here where that is pretty common as the parking lot is small. Even with a long line they are pretty efficient, but I am not comfortable jsut hanging out in the street like that.

This one in Santa Barbara is a standalone location and not in a strip mall where might be space for overflow. And the lot is small, so it's the perfect recipe for cars to be backed up on the street.

 

[BrianL]

This one in Santa Barbara is a standalone location and not in a strip mall where might be space for overflow. And the lot is small, so it's the perfect recipe for cars to be backed up on the street.

Yeah, the one that backs up here is also stand-alone in a small lot. The others, while sepearte buildings, are mostly in the lot of a larger shopping center so that helps with overflow. The newest one they built just near me is also stand-alone, but they built it with a much bigger lot with more drive-thru space. I haven't seen it spilling out into the street yet.

 

[kdonnel]

There is precedence for tearing down and starting over.

I know of one Chic-fil-a that did just that near me. It opened, was too successful, and a new one double the size was built across the street. Then the original store that was less than a year old was torn down and a Wendy’s was built on the site.

 

[soccerdad72]

There is precedence for tearing down and starting over.

I know of one Chic-fil-a that did just that near me. It opened, was too successful, and a new one double the size was built across the street. Then the original store that was less than a year old was torn down and a Wendy’s was built on the site.

Two or three of the stores in our area didn't tear down completely, but went through major renovations to expand the drive thru lanes to double sided maybe 2 years after they opened. They were all closed for a month or two to renovate.

 

[GiaR]

Used to frequent Chick-Fila but the MSG reaction wasn't worth it. I have since discovered Costco's Just Barely chicken nuggets that are much cheaper, better quality imho and no MSG! My Wells Fargo drive thru is next to our local Chick-fila so I make sure to avoid the area during the lunch & dinner time rush whenever possible.

 

[Pooh2]

We just got back from a 5,000 mile road trip and got ChikfilA several times.
We are in NH and had never seen anything like it.
Every branch we passed always had lines out in the road no matter the time of day.
That place is a gold mine!

 

[bcla]

There is precedence for tearing down and starting over.

I know of one Chic-fil-a that did just that near me. It opened, was too successful, and a new one double the size was built across the street. Then the original store that was less than a year old was torn down and a Wendy’s was built on the site.

The one in Santa Barbara has a generic mission style architecture, although I'm not sure if it was an existing building. They could justify moving to a different location such as a strip mall.

I've seen some oddball moves, such as a temporary Sonic location at a gas station. They took over their convenience store and didn't have carhops, but did have a drive thru. But that was only operating until a new standalone location was being constructed.

 

[kanerf]

Just build a second Chic-fil-a a few blocks away. I have been places where there is a coffee shop literally on every corner and they all seem to do well.

 

[VandVsmama]

I used to live in Santa Barbara. The location is on upper State St very close to La Cumbre Plaza (outdoor shopping mall). This is so totally an SB thing...saying they want new businesses, and then when the businesses show up and attract customers, the city changes its mind and says, "We don't want you here after all." Tucson does similar stuff, too...lots of restrictive city ordinances which make it very difficult for businesses to get started, stay in business, etc.

SB is a great place to visit, but kind of impossible to live there because the wages are low and there's not many employers that pay decently (and those that do, it's really hard to land a job there). It's one of the biggest reasons we left.