City leaders in Walnut Creek are weighing whether or not they should allow a second Chick-fil-A to move into the city.
On Tuesday night at 6 p.m., the Walnut Creek City Council is hosting a public hearing to hear from community members on these plans.
The proposed location is on the corner of Oak Grove Road and Citrus Avenue in the Citrus Marketplace Shopping Center.
"Everywhere you go, you'll see lines, cars, backing way out onto a main road," Stanley Chow, a neighbor said.
But since getting a Conditional Use Permit from the city's Planning Commission, a group of neighbors mobilized and sent an appeal to the city opposing the project.
Stanley Chow, a neighbor who lives within 300 yards of the proposed site, says he worries about how this could make an already congested area worse, with more spill-over of traffic onto side streets.
"What I'm anticipating is that delivery drivers, just trying to drive through the neighborhood as fast as possible, for no other reason, than to get to Chick-fil-A," Chow said.
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A spokesperson for the city of Walnut Creek says the city commissioned a traffic study for this site, comparing it to other Chick-fil-A locations, including the existing Walnut Creek location.
They say the study found there would not be a significant traffic impact.
"It would be nice to have something here, close by and just bringing more life," Carolina Roman, owner of Taqueria El Molina said. "Other shopping centers here have a lot of life and just here this specific one, needs that little push."
Roman owns a Taqueria in the same shopping center.
She says it's been a ghost town since the pandemic with at least seven empty store fronts.
"I thought it was a great idea because it's a business that will make us on the map a little bit again and customers that might go to Chick-fil-A will look around here in this other shopping center and see that there's other businesses," she said.
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While another neighbor and mom of two young boys says she would appreciate it for the convenience alone.
"An easy spot to get to, on the way to Trader Joe's, on the way to basketball practice, very convenient," Natalie Dale, a neighbor said. "This shopping center is a little bit sad, we would love to bring some new life into this area."
A spokesperson for the city of Walnut Creek said that at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, the Council may affirm, modify or reverse the Planning Commission's decision.
They also have the option to adopt additional conditions.
"For people who don't live here, its fine, but for the people who do, this project, the final decision of this project is going to have long-term impacts on the people who live in this neighborhood," Chow said.
If this project gets a green light from City Council, the final step will be one trip back for a final Design Review Commission meeting.
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