Chick-Fil-A drive through to be subject of March 1st hearing

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-Some people prefer drive-throughs, especially during the pandemic, but during the the lunch-hour the Chick-Fil-A drive-through on upper State Street in Santa Barbara has been known to back into traffic.

Santa Barbara Transportation Engineer Derrick Bailey gave a presentation to the city council on Tuesday and said, "Questions from the Chick-Fil-A restaurant persistently back onto State Street and those questions negatively affect traffic safety and mobility.”

Santa Barbara City Council members heard concerns about traffic back-ups at the fast food restaurant at 3707 State Street.

One council members said they have received letters about the problem for years.

City staff recommended a March 1 public hearing to consider declaring it a public nuisance.

An attorney for local families who have owned the property since the 1950s asked for 60 days to prepare and said his clients didn't receive a formal notification about the agenda item.

Another attorney for the restaurant requested 6-months and called the hearing to discuss whether it was a nuisance "premature."

He said the business has been working in earnest with city departments to address concerns.

Ronda Hobbs phoned into the virtual meeting and said more than 250 people have already signed a petition about curbing the problem.

She urged the council to act fast.

“Please as the petition requests act with all due haste to end this public nuisance hopefully before a cyclist gets killed," said Hobbs.

But another speaker shared concerns for the 100 plus workers, including students, employed at Chick-Fil-A.

People outside the restaurant said they knew it was a controversial issue.

Patti Sanderson of Santa Barbara said, "It's scary, it is just really scary."

She wants something to be done.

"Something has to be done because it is a driving hazard."

Samantha Perez disagrees.

"I just live around the corner and they have been really good about it since complaints started coming in and I rarely see it backed up."

Perez said some of the people complaining may not like the politics of the company.

There are signs warning customers it is illegal to block traffic.

May drive throughs are busier than usual during the pandemic because people don't want to dine indoors or get out of their cars to pick up orders.

Council members voted unanimously to "start the conversation" with a hearing on Tuesday March first.