On Tuesday, Eagle Mayor Brad Pike broke a tied vote that will result in the city’s first Chick-fil-A.
But it was not the first time Eagle City Council held a public hearing about the popular chicken restaurant — and not the first time it was approved.
A 15-acre development called East End Marketplace has been in the works for a decade, and city council initially approved the application in April. But at its next council meeting, councilmembers, citing concerns about traffic and architectural design of the building, reversed their decision. That prompted a lawsuit from the developer, and months later, the council approved a revised application.
“In my opinion they’ve done what you requested: they brought the traffic down 30%, they enhanced the buffering along Highway 44 which was a concern, and because it has to go to design review for the architectural design of the building, we will see this building designed differently,” Pike said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
The development, slated for the corner of State Highway 44 and Edgewood Lane, will feature a Chick-fil-A and a Panera Bread. Around $1.4 million has already been invested in the development, primarily focused on making improvements to the nearby roadways, said East End Marketplace’s attorney, Deborah Nelson.
The modified application also accounts for three drive-thrus instead of five and converted some retail spaces into office spaces. These changes will result in a 30% reduction in traffic, Nelson said, citing the Ada County Highway District and Idaho Transportation Department. The updated plan also increases landscaping along the highway, Nelson said.
Even so, councilmember Mary May cast some doubts.
“I love Chick-fil-A, but I am very concerned about the traffic,” May said. “It’s hard to wrap my mind around that with Chick-fil-A, (traffic is) going to go down 30%. We know the growth is going to continue, and I do feel we have a conflict point here.”
Councilmember Craig Kvamme was the first in the group to voice support for the development’s approval, while councilmembers Helen Russell and May both expressed several concerns. After a failed motion to axe the proposal, councilmember Melissa Gindlesperger voted to approve the development with Kvamme, and Pike broke the tie.
It was clear, based on the meeting’s attendance, that a majority of Eagle residents are excited about the Chick-fil-A coming to the city. According to Pike, of the folks who showed up to the meeting on Tuesday, 48 people were for the development’s approval, one was neutral and one was against the development’s approval.
The site of the project has been vacant for years.
“The reason this development has sat vacant for eight years is because we’ve been waiting for the premier operators to come into this city and into this development,” John Rennison, a developer working on the project, said. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to roll out other tenants that you may like less.”
Nelson added that adding a Chick-fil-A will encourage future tenants to join the development.
“Chick-fil-A is an anchor tenant here and has become the stimulus that the Marketplace needs to attract other great tenants,” Nelson said. “The developer has letters of intent with others, saying that they will come if Chick-fil-A is here.”
After the council reversed its initial approval, a lawsuit from the local developer, TPC Commercial and The Charter School Fund Oro Valley LLC, quickly followed.
It’s unclear whether or not the suit will continue after the council’s latest decision to approve the development. Because of the pending lawsuit, the mayor, councilmembers and the city could not comment on the proposal’s passing.
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