Middletown Township will be getting a second Chick-fil-A.
The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors on Monday evening approved plans for a roughly 5,000-square-foot Chick-fil-A restaurant with outdoor seating, indoor seating, and a dual-lane drive-thru.
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The fast food restaurant will sit in what is now the parking lot between the Starbucks and Inspire Federal Credit Union and in front of Floor and Decor at 1501 East Lincoln Highway.
Representatives for the developer told the supervisors the plans do feature some changes after feedback from the township and residents during planning commission meetings. The plans improve access to the shopping center driveways and add paths to connect the site to an existing sidewalk and to a bus stop.
Instead of a traditional drive-thru window, the location will have a drive-thru door where staff will deliver food to customers in the two lanes. A canopy will also be build to cover workers taking orders from drive-thru customers, company representatives said.
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At planning meetings, John Martinez, a development manager for Chick-fil-A, said the building would have a “state-of-the-art kitchen.” He also said the new location would not have a playground, noting the pandemic led to the the fast food chain eliminating them from designs and using the space for more seating.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
COVID-19 led to Chick-fil-A focusing more spaces and resources for mobile ordering operations, which has proved extremely popular, Martinez said.
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The idea behind the Chick-fil-A, the second location in Middletown Township, is to take some of the load off the company’s location with a drive-thru by Sesame Place. The existing location is about 1.5 miles away at Lincoln Plaza.
Traffic in the area of the planned Chick-fil-A and through the Highland Park neighborhood were major concerns of residents during the planning process. The construction of a Chick-fil-A, residents warned, could make already busy through-traffic from the shopping centers worse in their neighborhood.
Township officials said Chick-fil-A will provide $150,000 to the municipality as they explore adding a traffic signal at Highland Way and East Lincoln Highway near the site of the planned eatery.
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Supervisors Chairperson Tom Tosti and Supervisor Amy Strouse both said traffic is a major problem in that area and the township “owes the residents more” to fix the problems.
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