Residents oppose Chick-fil-A in Mandarin

Chick-fil-A has a plan to bring a new restaurant to a lot at the corner of San Jose Boulevard and Oak Bluff Lane in Mandarin.

But the plan is moving slowly, and some residents are opposed to the location.

"It's been a concern to me that it would affect the value of my home because I feel like it encroaches into the residential area," said resident Margaret Anderson, who opposes the Chick-fil-A being built.

Anderson said she loves the restaurant and fully supports the fast food chain, but she doesn't want to be able to see the business while spending time on her front porch.

The intersection is already a busy one, and Anderson said Chick-fil-A would bring even more traffic on the roadway and would make her feel less safe in her own home.

"It makes me very vulnerable and also makes it as a danger to be able to come in and out of my driveway," Anderson said. "So I just feel more exposed."

She said the pond that sits across the street from her house would be replaced with business and heavy traffic as a result of how busy the popular fast food restaurant gets.

Besides feeling like she is losing privacy and safety, Anderson said most of the community is concerned about the unwanted traffic.

"I haven't heard anyone that was for it simply because of the congestion it would create," she said.

While the city's planning department recommended approval, the City Council's Land Use and Zoning Committee voted unanimously against it.

"Based on the evidence offered at last Tuesday's LUZ committee meeting and the recommendation of the Planning Commission, I did not believe a change in the comprehensive plan was warranted at the intersection of Oak Bluff and San Jose," councilwoman Lori Boyer said in a statement. "The adjacent parcel is designated Low Density Residential, and a change to the very intense CGC category did not satisfy our requirement for transitions in intensity."

Boyer said the applications for land use and zoning changes were not specifically for a Chick-fil-A or even for just a fast food restaurant, but included a wide array of other permissible commercial uses, including gas stations, hotels, property storage and many others.

A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, when a final decision could be reached.