Ward 3 Vision, a grassroots organization that promotes walkable, sustainable and vibrant urban neighborhoods, is sponsoring the petition below to support ANC 3F in its opposition to a Chick-fil-A drive-thru at 4422 Connecticut Avenue NW. This is the Burger King site next to the Flagship Car Wash just south of Albemarle Street.
ANC 3F opposes the drive-thru because Chick-fil-A itself expects an exponential increase in vehicle traffic at this location, which will result in serious safety hazards to pedestrians and bicyclists. Cars entering and exiting the drive-thru must cross the sidewalk at least once, and usually twice.
Ward 3 Vision asks that residents, workers, students and others who frequent Van Ness and support creating vibrant commercial areas sign the petition below. The petition can also be found at tinyurl.com/CFAdrivethru.
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Daniel I. Davidson says
No drive-thru at CFA please. The intersection is already very dangerous.
Daniel I. Davidson says
I am against the drive-thru at CFA..
Jill Davidson says
A drive-thru at Chick-fil-A is potentially very dangerous and therefore should not be permitted.
Jill Davidson says
A drive-thru at Chick-fil-A is not in the interest of those of us who are pedestrians.
Travis Price says
More outdoor seating and NO Drive Thru for CFA is highly preferred. Can’t wait to eat great chicken with many people outside without traffic surrounding me.
JacobWilliams says
Will you post a petition to support the creation of a drive thru?
This neighborhood has enough empty buildings. It is getting embarrassing. Walgreens, Intelsat, Fannie Mae building, and whatever UDC wants to call the waste of space next to Acacia Bistro need tenants.
Tracy J. says
If someone creates one and lets us know about it, sure.
Paul says
Here’s a petition to stop them from coming to the neighborhood, period. This is a corporation that uses religion as an excuse to discriminate and commit civil rights abuses. They don’t belong in our neighborhood, and we can do much better than unhealthy fast food anyway.
https://www.change.org/p/anc-3f-neighborhood-commission-stop-chick-fil-a-from-coming-to-van-ness
Regina says
Welcome Chick-fil-A to the neighborhood. Chick-fil-A is not creating a problem by creating a drive-thru restaurant. The drive-thru restaurant and the infrastructure already exists (Burger King). Chick-fil-A cannot be faulted for seeing an business opportunity. Any other business that uses drive-thru services (most of them being fast-food enterprises) would want this property to generate income. The city is happy with any business that generates profit and pays taxes.
The only options are the following: 1. find a company who can profit in the current space without the benefit of the drive-thru income (current footprint which is small) or 2. bring a company in to use the building plus drive-thru space (bigger footprint which may cause new issues to be addressed).
The problem won’t go away if you chase away Chick-fil-A and nothing is more detrimental to a neighborhood than an empty building.
MS says
I agree with you 100%. But there are many people in this area who would prefer a vacant building to a Chick-Fil-A. Somehow, very liberal Montgomery County manages to support several Chick-Fil-A restaurants, and they are always packed to the gills, producing jobs and tax revenues for the county. Sad that people in this area would cut off their noses to spite their faces, as the proverb goes . . .
Green Eyeshades says
The magic of “tax revenues” is usually the last line of defense for obnoxious developments that neighborhoods oppose. The alleged tax revenues from sales taxes on Chick-Fil-A’s sales will be puny. Our neighborhood will receive no direct benefit from those sales tax revenues.
If the sales revenues will be so significant, then ask Chick-Fil-A to make its new Tenleytown location bigger and have all the customers use the Tenleytown store. But, again, the sales tax revenues will produce no direct benefit for the Tenleytown neighborhood either.
The corporate income tax revenues from the new Chick-Fil-A location will also probably be immaterial, especially because the Mayor and DC Council Chairman are determined to wipe out corporate income taxes by whatever methods they can. They have already cut the corporate income tax rate (franchise tax rate) down to 9.2% and are handing out tax abatements like candy. They are giving away scores of millions of dollars of business income tax revenue every year, so don’t tell me taxes are the reason I need to tolerate an obnoxious business like Chick-Fil-A.
Adrian Salsgiver says
My First and Only Chick-fil-A
On Halloween 2014, I went to see Fleetwood Mac at the Phone Booth.
It was a great concert. I caught Christine McVie looking at my friend Jimi and me and I made eye contact with her and gave her a little wave. It was a royal wave like the Queen of England gives. Christine waved back with the exact same wave. Jimi did not see her because he was writing notes for his review:
http://mrjimijam.com/ConcertReviews2.html#278
Before the concert started I was hungry but having attended a few Capitals games I knew the pizza would give me a belly ache. I chose the spicy Chick-fil-A. It was pretty tasty but I wondered about the quality of the chicken and how much of my money was going to a preacher or organization advocating extermination of innocent children based upon their open or perceived sexuality. But Chick-fil-A has made efforts to make up with the Gay Community because of some kiss-in protests. So I’m not sure this is much of an issue anymore.
A resident of The Washington Home who did some research informed me the chicken served at TWH is imported frozen from China. Is the chicken served at Chick-fil-A what I call Auschwitz Chicken – put into a tiny cage and tortured until it goes insane and then you’re supposed to eat it? Or is imported from China?
Recently I walked through the drive thru at the Burger King and noticed the people sitting in their cars appeared overweight. Too fat and lazy to park and walk, at least that’s what I thought.
What does a Chick-fil-A smell like? Sometimes I open a window and the wonderful smell of bread baking at Bread Furst swirls around my apartment, other times I close my window to avoid billowing clouds of grease from the Burger King. It would be great if something nice would replace the Burger King and close the drive thru, the old fashioned car wash is dangerous enough.
If Chick-fil-A advertised and served free range chicken, happy chickens running around big local farmyards all happy, and if they gave up the idea of a drive thru for fat lazy rednecks before one of my neighbors is run over, and if it can be confirmed they no longer donate to religious fanatics, I might not object. But then it wouldn’t be a Chick-fil-A, or would it?