Westminster planning panel conditionally approves Chick‑fil‑A site plan amid traffic, neighborhood concerns

The Westminster Planning and Zoning Commission voted to conditionally approve site development plan S230001 for a Chick‑fil‑A on Aug. 21, on a motion that links final permits to completion of the Market Street extension and other conditions.

Commissioners and residents focused much of the hearing on traffic modeling and whether Market Street Extended will reduce cut‑through traffic on Old Baltimore Road, part of the neighborhood locally known as the Tree Streets. Residents described worries about increased congestion, driveway conflicts and safety from new restaurant traffic.

The commission's conditional approval requires the applicant to address all outstanding city and county comments before submitting signature‑set plans; to record a boundary line adjustment or subdivision in Carroll County land records before final signature‑set approval; and to start construction of Market Street beyond grading before the city issues building permits for the Chick‑fil‑A, with Market Street completed and accepted by the Carroll County Board of Commissioners before issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the restaurant.

Residents urged stronger mitigation. ‘‘Please don’t vote for this yet. Make them dead end Old Baltimore,’’ one resident told the commission, arguing the only way to preserve the neighborhood’s safety is to eliminate the new connection. Sandy Weber, who said she lives about 150 feet from the planned site, told the panel the proposed parking and drive‑through lanes will put headlights and activity ‘‘directly at me and all of my neighbors.’’

Traffic consultants and county staff told commissioners the traffic impact study was prepared to be conservative. Mark, the traffic consultant on the project, said the study used prior diversion work and that exhibit maps show the trips expected to shift onto Market Street. ‘‘We did diversion studies 15 years ago,’’ he said, and those older analyses were used as a basis for the current exhibits. Applicant representative David Haynie said the numbers are forecasts, not ‘‘concrete number[s],’’ and that the study examined peak‑hour movements during typical school days and weekend peaks.

Several residents pressed for numerical clarity. Emily Fox, who identified herself as a survivor of a near‑fatal crash, told the commission she reviewed the traffic study and said, ‘‘The study openly admits that the project will create a failing intersection,’’ citing delays the report attributes to certain turning movements at nearby intersections.

County public‑works director Doug Brown told the commission that any proposal to permanently close (dead‑end) Old Baltimore Road would require a separate county process, additional study of public safety and participation by a majority of affected property owners and final action by the Carroll County Board of Commissioners.

Commission discussion repeatedly returned to the role of the Market Street extension. Commissioners said the extension has long been planned to provide a higher‑capacity north–south connection that should reduce cut‑through trips in the Tree Streets. One commissioner summarized the practical effect: with Market Street extended and the existing roundabout in place, drivers seeking faster through movements are more likely to use Market Street than local residential streets.

After discussion, a commissioner made a motion to conditionally approve S230001 based on the staff report dated Aug. 21, 2025, with the three conditions described to the record. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

The commission’s approval ties the city building approvals for the Chick‑fil‑A to construction milestones on the county‑led Market Street extension. County staff confirmed the county needs property from the site to complete the connection and said if the applicant were to abandon the project the county would need to renegotiate property acquisition to complete Market Street.

Next steps: the applicant must resolve outstanding city and county comments and complete the boundary‑adjustment requirement before final site plan signature; building‑permit issuance will be withheld until Market Street construction has at least begun beyond grading and the road ultimately is accepted by the Board of County Commissioners prior to occupancy.