Centerville council overturns planning commission, approves Chick‑fil‑A drive‑through variance

Centerville City Council voted to overturn a Planning Commission denial and grant variances for 5301 Cornerstone North Boulevard, allowing Chick‑fil‑A to add a second drive‑through lane and reduce a required 20‑foot landscape buffer and pavement setback to roughly a half‑foot along the south property line.

The vote followed a public hearing in which the restaurant’s franchise owner, Marla Davis, described traffic backups that she said create safety risks for customers and employees. “When the drive‑thru backs up … somebody’s gonna get hurt,” Davis said, arguing a second lane is needed to address a 20% surge in the site’s business and to maintain safe traffic patterns. Staff presented the Planning Commission’s earlier 6–0 denial and reviewed the Unified Development Ordinance variance standards that apply to setbacks and landscape buffer yards.

City planning staff told council the property has three frontages and that the building’s original placement constrains options for adding a drive‑through lane. Ian, planning staff, said the requested reductions would remove most of the planting area on the Chick‑fil‑A side and place responsibility for buffering onto the adjacent property owner. Alan Wiley of GBC Design, representing the applicant, submitted images of similar property‑line conditions elsewhere in the Cornerstone North development and said pavement‑to‑pavement edges exist on comparable lots.

Council members debated whether financial or operational strain on the franchise owner constituted the legal “hardship” required for a variance. Council member Mark Engert, who moved to overturn the Planning Commission decision, said the franchise’s operational pattern is “almost a brand standard” and that the dual‑lane design is an established approach that improves throughput. The motion to grant the appeal carried on a voice vote; the council did not record a roll‑call tally in the public record.

The variances approved include (1) a reduction of the minimum pavement setback along the south property line from 20 feet to approximately 0.5 foot and (2) a matching reduction of the minimum landscape buffer yard along that boundary. The applicant will proceed with a minor site plan review at staff level as the next step, per the city’s development process.

Council and the applicant discussed maintenance and ownership of any remaining landscaping on the adjacent lot; the developer of the adjacent parcel, Ober, was described as being aware of the proposal and the applicant reported contemporaneous conversations with a developer representative who said he did not object. Council members noted they cannot require the Chick‑fil‑A franchisee to maintain landscaping on a neighboring parcel.

The decision overturns the Planning Commission denial and allows the property owner to move forward with site changes needed to create the additional drive‑through capacity. No formal amendments to the approved motion were recorded, and no individual “no” votes were announced during the voice vote.