Santa Barbara is on the verge of turning Chick-Fil-A restaurant into a ‘public nuisance’

Santa Barbara is about to break into the popular Chick-fil-A location because, according to the documents, the place is doing too well.

The city is on the verge of calling the only Chick-fil-A, which has been in existence since 2013, a “public nuisance” because long lines to drive onto local streets clog traffic.

“Over the past few years, the City has received numerous public comments regarding the vehicle queue at 3707 State Street,” the City Council’s March 1 agenda report said. “Public comments discuss traffic safety issues, car collisions, cyclist safety issues, and several requests to fix issues caused by driving at 3707 State Street.”

The report states that “Chick-fil-A customers routinely ignore” road signs.

The traffic report states that “the queue blocks second lane traffic on State Street for an average of 70 minutes per day on weekdays and 92 minutes per day on Saturdays.” According to the report, the entrance to a nearby restaurant is blocked “an average of 15 times a day.”

Chick-fil-A has tried its hand at containing the leak, such as “reconfiguring its on-site queue and deploying mobile order takers, but none of them seem to have worked.”

According to the Santa Barbara News-Press, City Council member Kristen Sneddon said that Chick-fil-A does have serious problems.

“This is not about the kindness of the company or the kindness of the owners, and certainly not the kindness of the employees,” Sneddon said. “Chick-fil-A has a good problem here. They are so successful that they have outgrown their website. For starters, they may have been too big for this site.

Establishment owner Travis Collins said he believes he has the right solutions to deal with the issue and has reportedly asked for advice not to suspend their drive-thru opportunities. (RELATED: Senator Lindsey Graham says he’ll “go to war” for Chick-Fil-A)

Chick-fil-Food [rblfmr/Shutterstock]

“On behalf of ourselves, Chick-fil-A and many of the team members, we sincerely regret that this traffic situation has come to this point and sincerely wish to work in good faith with the city to resolve this issue once and for all. We believe we have solutions, some of them.”

According to the report, the remedies, some of which have already been taken, include adding an extra lane, rearranging parking spaces, and changing the exit pattern. According to the Los Angeles Times, the council has given the place 90 days to present its decisions before a vote is taken.

But the locals are unhappy.

“Over the years, you’ve had Chick-fil-A putting together their fixes, which didn’t really help much with the traffic problem,” local resident Rick Closson told the Los Angeles Times. “But then you have the city pushing a possible nasty title and now the corporation is saying, ‘Oh my God, please just give us more time to work this out.'”

Rhonda Hobbs said: “My personal concern is that in 90 days Chick-fil-A will say, ‘See, we’ve fixed the problem.’ But the city is not going to hold them accountable for duplicating traffic and not take control of the lane.”