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A series of six public hearings held by the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals regarding preliminary plans for a drive-thru only Chick-fil-A in Arnold began on September 2. These hearings were previously slated for July.
The appeals are of the preliminary plan approval granted by the county earlier this year for the construction of a 2,852-square-foot restaurant with a two-lane drive-thru and more than 40 parking spaces, as well as conditional approval of modification requests.
Chick-fil-A has sought to construct a restaurant at 1500 Ritchie Highway, just south of CVS and the Sunoco gas station, for several years. Nearby residents and community members have raised concerns about pedestrian and traffic safety as well as environmental impacts of building a restaurant at that particular location.
Appeals have been filed by adjacent property owners including Arnold Preservation Council President Elizabeth Rosborg. She shared that she and other appellants have nothing against Chick-fil-A; they simply have concerns about additional traffic in an already congested area, as well as environmental concerns including the removal of specimen trees and runoff from added impervious surfaces.
The property at 1500 Ritchie Highway backs up to a residential neighborhood and is close to the median crossover for the Arnold Volunteer Fire Department. Current plans would have traffic access the Chick-fil-A from both Route 2 south and a lane behind the existing CVS.
The remaining upcoming hearings are open to the public, and community members are invited to attend and speak. The meetings are scheduled as follows:
To learn more about the hearings, go to www.aacounty.org/board-of-appeals. For more information about the Arnold Preservation Council’s efforts to support the appellants, go to www.arnoldpreservationcouncil.org/news.
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