TOWSON, Md. — Chick-fil-A wants to build a restaurant on Towson's East Joppa Road, which would require getting zoning waivers from Baltimore County.
The company had a hearing scheduled for Tuesday about its request to put a drive-through restauranton the site of the current Bob Evans, on East Joppa at LaSalle Road.
That hearing has been postponed, however, because the company wanted more time to talk with "an adjacent neighborhood association," according to a letter sent by Chick-fil-A's lawyer to the county.
Chick-fil-A is currently not allowed to build its proposed restaurant because the nearby Joppa/Loch Raven intersection is considered failing - meaning, the county won't allow any more building, "with some very limited exceptions."
The company also wanted to build a drive-thru up to 4 feet from a residential area (county zoning requires it to be 75 feet away), build an 18-square-foot directional sign (currently only 8-square-foot is allowed), and build three 58-square-ft signs (currently only 2-square-foot ones are allowed).
Chick-fil-A's representative is now asking for a hearing in August, according to a letter from their representative. The company says its conversations with the neighborhood group "have been productive... We feel that it would be in everyone's best interest if we postpone this hearing until negotiations are complete."
Meanwhile, the Starbucks at Joppa and Loch Raven Boulevard is now permanently closed, after only a few years at the busy intersection. Starbucks has pulled out of its lease, and the building is now vacant.
Chick-fil-A also has a restaurant about 2 miles away, in Parkville, and one at Towson Town Center.
