Chick-fil-A's dream of building a “mega” restaurant in a small Tennessee town has been put on hold by local residents who expressed traffic concerns.
Jennifer Casey, public information officer for Collierville, Tenn., told Fox News Digital that town leadership has rejected a new, larger restaurant in the town of about 51,000 residents.
The popular chicken chain wanted to build a 6,110-square-foot restaurant with 522 square feet of outdoor seating space.
The new restaurant will also include a 300-square-foot play area, an employee meeting room and dual drive-thru lanes that can accommodate 43 cars.
In Monday's vote, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen rejected it by a 5-1 vote.
Casey said the “overall feeling” was that it was not a good location to open a new restaurant because of traffic concerns.
Ms Casey explained that the land for the restaurant is adjacent to Bray Station, a two-lane road that provides access to the restaurant, and residents were concerned about crowding and traffic.
Collierville City Planner Jamie Grose said Chick-fil-A's next step is to submit a new option that is “fully compliant” with town regulations.
“Chick-fil-A has been a great corporate citizen and we look forward to continuing to invest in our community. The next step is to develop a site plan for the site that is fully compliant with all town regulations. to submit,” Gross said.
“That site plan will go through a public planning process, which means it will be reviewed by staff, the planning commission and the design review committee before being revisited by the Board of Mayor and City Council,” she said. said.
