The Auburn Main Planning Board on July 8 approved a site plan and special‑exception request to build a Chick‑fil‑A restaurant at 65 Mount Auburn Ave, but attached a condition requiring the applicant to coordinate with the city engineer on final pedestrian connectivity before a building permit is issued.

The board approved the proposal after discussing vehicle access, parking and multiple options for pedestrian access to the shopping plaza. The applicant is proposing a roughly 5,100–5,200 square‑foot Chick‑fil‑A with a dual‑lane drive‑through, two covered drive‑through canopies, about 90 interior seats and outdoor patio seating, plus a trash enclosure and site lighting.

Why it matters: the site sits at the rear of the Turner Street Center Plaza, adjacent to Hobby Lobby and Mattress Firm, near a rotary on Turner Street. Staff, the applicant and the board debated whether to require a new sidewalk connection to Turner Street (which would involve steep grade changes and crosswalks near the rotary) or to require a shorter connection to the existing Hobby Lobby walkway inside the plaza. The board’s final condition asks the applicant to work with the city engineer to finalize a Turner Street connection if feasible, and to provide a sidewalk connection to the Hobby Lobby walkway.

Applicant presentation and site details
Joey Fonseca, project manager with Bowler, summarized the proposal, saying the development would use a roughly 40,000 square‑foot pad on a 3.9‑acre parcel. Fonseca said the project would provide about 25 parking spaces within the Chick‑fil‑A pad itself and rely on shared parking across the plaza; utilities are currently stubbed to the site and stormwater already flows to an existing basin near Turner Street. Fonseca said, “we're proposing a 5,200 square foot Chick fil A restaurant to be 90 interior seats, approximately 12 exterior seats... with a 2 lane drive through.”

Traffic review
Jason Adams of Bowman Consulting presented the traffic memo and told the board the Chick‑fil‑A’s expected peak‑hour trips (about 180 weekday afternoon peak hour trips) fall below the number of trips that were previously permitted for the plaza. Adams said the site was originally permitted with capacity that included up to 584 weekday afternoon peak‑hour trips and that the plaza currently generates about 260 such trips. “The number of trips that would be expected to be generated by the Chick fil A is below the total number of approved trips for the plaza,” Adams said, “and as such, the site is considered to fit well within what was originally intended, when the project was permitted.”

Pedestrian access and safety debate
A central debate at the hearing focused on pedestrian connectivity. Staff recommended the board consider a condition that would require a sidewalk connection to the Turner Street sidewalk network; staff and the city engineer identified grade changes and driveway geometry on the site as engineering constraints. Board members and the applicant discussed alternatives, including a sidewalk tie‑in to the existing Hobby Lobby walkway internal to the plaza and a potential connector along the north edge of the access road.

Zach Middlebrooks, principal development lead for Chick‑fil‑A, said the company is willing to explore pedestrian connections but raised safety and grading concerns. “We are not opposed to pedestrian connectivity by any means,” Middlebrooks said, adding his chief concern was the steep grade and multiple vehicle movements near the rotary: “I'm more worried about the safety and how you make this all tie together given what's out there right now.”

Board action and conditions
An initial motion that would have required a detailed final sidewalk alignment connecting directly to Mount Auburn Avenue (and that also specified the Hobby Lobby connection) resulted in a 3–3 tie and failed. Members who opposed that motion cited insufficient, meaningful pedestrian connectivity and safety concerns with encouraging pedestrians adjacent to the rotary.

The board then approved a revised motion that passed. The approved conditions require, before building permit issuance, that the applicant coordinate with the Auburn city engineer to finalize the location and design of a pedestrian connection to the Turner Street sidewalk network; if no suitable connection can be identified the project must return to the planning board with a memo from the city engineer explaining the findings. The approved motion also requires the applicant to provide a sidewalk connection from the Chick‑fil‑A site to the existing Hobby Lobby walkway within the plaza. The approval included standard conditions that development activity not begin until bonding or inspection fees are set by the Auburn engineering department and that the applicant obtain any required blasting permits.

What the board noted and next steps
Board members and staff emphasized the site’s constraints: the rear drive aisle has grade changes of roughly 5–6 feet and slopes that approach or exceed local guideline thresholds for accessible routes, and the Turner Street rotary has multiple vehicle movements that complicate crosswalk placement. Staff said the city engineer believes a sidewalk is plausible but needs further design work; the engineer was not available at the meeting to provide final guidance.

The applicant will return with final sidewalk alignment details for the city engineer’s review; if engineers conclude a safe, ADA‑compliant connection to Turner Street is not feasible, the city engineer must issue a memo and the board will reconsider the item. The building permit will not be issued until the coordination condition is satisfied.

Votes at a glance
- Initial motion (required detailed alignment to Mount Auburn/Hobby Lobby as written): failed (tie vote 3–3). The board declined that motion on pedestrian‑safety and connectivity grounds.
- Final motion (approval with conditions requiring coordination with the city engineer on Turner Street connection and a Hobby Lobby walkway tie‑in; bonding and blasting conditions): passed.

Reporting details and context
The proposal site currently contains a grass/gravel pad east of Hobby Lobby in the Turner Street Center Plaza and is accessed from Mount Auburn Ave and the rear Turner Street rotary. The plaza includes Hobby Lobby, Mattress Firm and a Starbucks; the applicant said utilities are available and stormwater is conveyed to an existing basin near Turner Street. Staff and the applicant said there are existing cross‑parking agreements within the plaza that will be part of lease negotiations.

The board moved on to its next agenda item after approving the Chick‑fil‑A site plan; the next agenda item (a 67 Kitty Hawk Ave temporary fire station) was introduced but not discussed during the portion of the transcript used for this article.

Ending
The applicant agreed to return with final design details as required by the board’s condition. The board’s decision leaves the project approved in principle, subject to the city engineer’s review and any additional findings if an accessible pedestrian connection to Turner Street cannot be identified.