Restaurant clears NIMBY hurdle at plan commission
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For a chicken restaurant that receives so much love, it took Chick-fil-A more than a year of fighting to get to the Kokomo Plan Commission meeting on March 12.
Hoping to build a restaurant along Ind. 931 and Markland Avenue in the plaza that holds Hobby Lobby, the company has clashed with nearby residents over concerns of increased traffic at the city's busiest intersection.
The final plan approval for the restaurant represented the last stand for the remonstrators. What unfolded was an awkward and repetitive opposition in which those speaking against Chick-fil-A made sure to separate the art from the artist, so to speak.
"I have no problems with the restaurant itself," said former Cedar Crest resident Tammy Kelly. "I love it. I will go to it. But I just ask, surely, there's a different way to get into there than Savoy and Imperial (Drive)."
"I think Chick-fil-A is wonderful; I drive all the way to Lafayette to get it," said Thomas Stine. "I think in a couple years, once it's built, people doing their shopping and stuff are all going to say the same thing. 'Do you see what the traffic is like there? That's horrible. Why in the world did they put that there?'"
"Have you considered how the people that live on Imperial Drive are going to back out of their driveway with all the traffic going to Chick-fil-A?" asked Penny McKibben. "And by the way, we all love Chick-fil-A."
"I'm not against Chick-fil-A, but it's the wrong location," said Sheila Off.
The recurring theme was access to the store. Residents in the Cedar Crest subdivision have opposed opening up Imperial Drive, a frontage road along Ind. 931, to alleviate traffic concerns caused by the restaurant. And in January, Chick-fil-A actually lost that battle -- temporarily.
The plan commission denied plat approval for the project in January, motivated by the traffic argument. It later discovered it had no legal justification to deny the plat and had to nullify its decision. The plat was re-heard on March 11 and passed unanimously.
The plan, however, was not a foregone conclusion, and when the restaurant came before the plan commission this time, it left nothing to chance. Chick-fil-A brought in representatives from its home office in Atlanta. It brought in the site selector who chose the busy plaza for the store. It brought legal experts and planners.
The team addressed how the site was selected. Real estate broker Patrick Boyle was the company's "boots on the ground." He was responsible for searching for the right location.
"We considered many sites in Kokomo," said Boyle. "We've fielded many calls from different brokers, developers, landowners, and the general public. We've considered all of those sites very carefully.
"What we look for in our real estate is, we need about an acre and a half, but we really look for population density, visibility to the site, traffic counts, cars driving by the site, ease of access to the site in proximity to other traffic generators. We've considered many sites, but unfortunately, there are none available today that we're aware of that meet these criteria and are available."
Chick-fil-A's legal counsel Misha Rabinowitch tackled the question of access to Imperial Drive. He explained that, despite claims to the contrary, there is no record of a judgment restricting access to the road. It had been argued that the Cedar Crest residents successfully fought off efforts to open access in the 1960s, but the Howard County Clerk could find no record of the judgment.
Rabinowitch also addressed concerns about parking in the plaza, using the plan commission's own standards to show that 398 parking spaces will remain available after Chick-fil-A is built -- 30 more than the law requires.
Shaun Walker, Chick-fil-A's principal development lead, campaigned on the chain's behalf, trying to demonstrate its commitment to being a good neighbor.
"We have a strong reputation of who we are and what we're about, and that's all we're trying to offer here for the city of Kokomo," said Walker. "We just want to partner with other people. We do care for our guests. We care for our communities.
"Some people may be inconvenienced by our urban property because it comes with occasional traffic, and I do recognize that elephant in the room, But the things that we don't talk about are the things that we do to get ahead of that traffic."
Walker outlined Chick-fil-A's double drive-thru design and its ability to take orders in person while customers are in the queue, all to speed up delivery of the much-loved sandwiches.
She also pointed out that the store will create 80-100 jobs in the community, will donate $25,000 to local food organizations upon arrival, and will offer scholarships to its employees.
"We understand this is a tough decision, but again, we're here to partner with you and extend that spirit of hospitality," said Walker.
A few more speakers addressed the plan commission with various concerns, including a sales pitch for a site already declined by the company and a strange argument about access to the plaza from Ind. 931 that amounted to a cash grab by an adjacent property owner, in the view of the board.
But when the moment of truth arrived, the plan commission voted unanimously in favor of bringing Chick-fil-A to Kokomo.
There were several other cases on the plan commission's agenda on March 11. A rezoning request at 501 James Dr. brought out concerned neighborhood residents. The property -- one of three along South Park Road between James Drive and Lincoln Road -- is intended to be part of the construction of a new drive-thru convenience store.
While the staff report from the plan commission indicated no problems with the request to change the zoning from residential to commercial, the neighbors disagreed.
Rick Wilson lived next to the property for 25 years. He argued that the lot is not large enough, by planning standards, to accommodate commercial activity. He also brought up traffic concerns with neighborhood children walking to school without the benefit of sidewalks.
And then there is the drainage.
"The house next door that they tore down was always flooding in the rear," said Wilson. "The lawn was always full of water, because there's a three-inch drainpipe that runs behind that property. It will not sustain putting asphalt back on.
"You cover that whole section with asphalt, you're going to flood ... That corner used to flood. It always had water standing because of that parking lot. There was no drainage."
Drainage concerns were echoed by Brian Frye, the resident living across the street from the parcel in question.
"I live right there on the corner," said Frye. "There's always flooding, and there's even a drain. It's still flooded a lot of the time."
Fellow Maple Crest resident Rick Emry also gave comment, pointing out that the city's trash collection route requires residents on James Drive to place their containers on the south side of the street for automated collection. Building a drive-thru convenience store would disrupt that route.
After discussion, the plan commission voted 6-2 to approve the rezoning.
The plan commission also heard the petition for final plat approval to construct the Melody Farm residential subdivision. Located on the southeast side of the city, east of Cartwright Drive between Alto and Center roads. The project was given unanimous approval by the board.
In other plan commission business, the board approved a rezoning of the property at 321 E. Taylor St. from commercial to urban residential. It also approved a rezoning for the property at 706 W. Jefferson St. from residential to neighborhood commercial for the purpose of establishing a butcher shop on the parcel.