Mayor willing to leave Imperial Drive closed (for now) to secure Chick-fil-A

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When the Kokomo Plan Commission rejected plans on Jan. 14 for Chick-fil-A to come to Kokomo, Mayor Tyler Moore was watching the meeting from his office. He was so surprised by the outcome that he rushed downstairs to confront the commission members.

“I was shocked,” said Moore. “I was confused. I was frustrated, and I was embarrassed. I was shocked because of the amount of time that had been put into this development plan to assure the best flow of traffic in there to accommodate, not just Chick-fil-A, but Hobby Lobby and the property owner.

“The city's position, whether it's the director of engineering or mine, is that we feel it beneficial to have access to Imperial Drive open to alleviate some of the traffic congestion that happens at Markland and 931, even if it's somebody coming from Hobby Lobby.

“I was embarrassed because a governing body in the City of Kokomo sent a message to a national chain franchise -- that this community has been hoping would give a nod to our area for well over a decade -- that we're not really sure if we want to accommodate what is needed to have them here.” — Mayor Tyler Moore

“I’m frustrated because I guess I thought that the vote would have gone the other way, and I was confused as well. But I was embarrassed because a governing body in the City of Kokomo sent a message to a national chain franchise -- that this community has been hoping would give a nod to our area for well over a decade -- that we're not really sure if we want to accommodate what is needed to have them here.”

The plan commission voted down the Chick-fil-A specifically because of the traffic situation at the Sandor property along Ind. 931. The access to Imperial Drive also was a significant contributing factor to the denial. But that didn’t kill the project. At the time of the vote, city attorney T.J. Rethlake and plan commission director Greg Sheline agreed that if the plan is significantly altered and re-submitted, it could be heard quickly, rather than having to wait six months to be reconsidered.

Moore is counting on that happening if the city decides to set aside its desire to open Imperial Drive.

“Fortunately, I don't think it's dead,” said Moore. “There's still the opportunity that they can adjust the plans that were submitted and get those to Mr. Sheline for his consideration to see if there's the possibility of that being a major change to the plan that's acceptable to allow the executive director to waive the six-month period.

“The development plan did show access onto Imperial, which is something that they didn't want. The city was asking them to do it, and they acquiesced. I know the representative for the property owner got up at the end of the meeting and said they didn't even want it to begin with.”

Even though the city’s engineering department sent surveyors to the Imperial Drive access point to take readings the day after the plan commission voted down the Chick-fil-A project, Moore contends that the city need not act on opening the drive; at least not immediately.

“We could allow (the project) and monitor the traffic flow to see if there are greater safety issues or concerns with Markland and 931,” said Moore. “That gives a timeframe within which Imperial is not available to monitor traffic flows or accidents. Then at that point, possibly with the help of INDOT and their monitoring, we could see if it would make sense to go ahead and open Imperial.

“There's still a chance that we continue to monitor and things are fine. Then, we leave Imperial alone. We shelve the design work and leave it be.”

The mayor is willing to consider alternatives to adjust traffic flow and reduce congestion at Markland and 931, the city’s busiest intersection. He confirmed that the city is exploring the possibility of eliminating left turns onto Markland from the lot, and it might reach out to INDOT to request no u-turns be allowed for northbound 931 traffic at the Markland intersection.

“We will be discussing and weighing all options with the traffic flow there,” said Moore. “But we will continue to monitor what may transpire on that lot, and we will work with the property owner to market that lot if Chick-fil-A were to walk away from the deal.”