Folks who live in Santa Barbara love their Chick-fil-A and that’s a big problem for local government leaders.
Santa Barbara City Hall says it has received several complaints about cars in the drive-thru line backed up onto nearby streets, which has caused traffic problems, including collisions and cyclist safety issues.
“State Street is one of the City’s most important streets for moving people and goods,” city transportation engineer Derrick Bailey told the Santa Barbara Press News earlier this month. “It was never intended to operate with significant blockage.”
The traffic issues have become such a problem that city leaders may declare the beloved chicken restaurant as a public nusiance.
“They are so successful, they have outgrown their site. It’s possible they were oversized for that site to begin with,” the council member Kristen Sneddon told the newspaper.
If the city declares the restaurant a public nuisance, Chick-fil-A could lose its nonconforming use status for the drive-thru facilities.
“On behalf of myself, Chick-fil-A and the many team members, we sincerely regret that this traffic situation has come to this point and heartily wish to work in good faith with the City to resolve this matter once and for all,” Santa Barbara Chick-fil-A owner-operator Travis Collins told the S.B. Press-News.