Council approves Chick‑fil‑A drive‑thru permit after planning commission requires enhanced landscaping
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Summary
Prosper council granted a specific use permit for a Chick‑fil‑A restaurant with a drive‑thru at Frontier Retail Center after Planning & Zoning and the applicant agreed on enhanced landscaping and larger plantings to screen drive‑thru lanes from Dallas Parkway.
The Town Council unanimously approved a specific use permit for a Chick‑fil‑A drive‑thru at the Frontier Retail Center, contingent on an enhanced landscaping plan the Planning & Zoning Commission requested.
The 2.8‑acre Tract in Block A, directly south of Frontier Parkway along North Dallas Parkway, will include a Chick‑fil‑A building and drive‑through lanes sited between the building and the major roadway. That layout conflicts with a 2024 ordinance the town adopted tightening drive‑thru placement near thoroughfares; Planning & Zoning members concluded that substantially increased landscaping would meet the ordinance’s intent to screen drive‑thru lanes.
Priya Acharya, representing the applicant, described the landscaping and screening strategy, saying the drive‑through canopy and lanes “are intended to be screened by 6 foot tall evergreen shrubs” planted at installation height and larger trees. The applicant’s representative also said the team proposed 6‑inch‑caliper live oaks and cedar elms and more robust evergreen shrubs to screen the view from the tollway.
Matt Moore, representing master developer DNT Frontier LP, said the configuration was developed in coordination with H‑E‑B and designed to avoid access from the tollway’s key drives: “This prevents access off those critical drives coming in off the tollway… We feel like this plan provides everybody the opportunity to be successful.”
Staff had recommended denial because the proposed drive‑thru configuration did not conform to the updated ordinance; the Planning & Zoning Commission, however, voted 7–0 to recommend approval after the applicant presented the enhanced landscape plan and facade enhancements intended to hide the drive‑thru from Dallas Parkway. The council emphasized this was a site‑specific approval, not a policy change for other parcels along the tollway.
Council discussion noted the ordinance’s original intent and thanked Planning & Zoning and staff for their work. A council member asked whether the landscape easement required berming; staff said it did not. The council then voted to approve the specific use permit; several councilmembers said they supported the decision based on the enhanced planting sizes and the applicant’s commitments to screening.
Staff said any interior restaurant seating or food‑service elements beyond what is shown would be reviewed in the building‑permit process, at which point health and grease‑trap requirements and parking ratios would be finalized.
