Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – On Tuesday, the Jonesboro Board of Zoning Adjustments approved three variances to pave the way for a new Chick-fil-A restaurant at 3504 Southern Creek Lane.
Brent Edmiston, representing Chick-fil-A, introduced the 1.8-acre project as the company’s newest “P15” prototype, which emphasizes an “isolated drive-thru” to separate drive-thru traffic from dine-in customers. He added that the site features a designated queue that is “60% higher than our minimum standards” to keep vehicles from spilling onto public streets.
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To make this layout work, project engineer Allan Wiley of GBC Design presented three variance requests to the board.
The first variance asked to eliminate a required cross-access connection between the restaurant and the adjacent Tommy’s Car Wash. Because Tommy’s utilizes a one-way entrance, board members and engineers noted that connecting the properties would force cars exiting the drive-thru directly into incoming car wash traffic.
“The only people that would be utilizing that entrance is to go get your car washed,” Wiley noted, adding that there was no functional benefit for the restaurant’s traffic flow.
The second variance addressed a city requirement mandating that a curb cut be a minimum of 85 feet from an intersection. Wiley requested to place a curb cut closer than the standard rule to safely and quickly funnel cars off the street.
“The reason we have our curb cut showing where it’s at is it provides a straight access point directly into the drive-thru entrance,” Wiley told the board. This prevents vehicles from having to blindly navigate through the parking lot to find the end of the line.
The final variance challenged a city code restricting properties from having three access points. Wiley clarified that the site will specifically use two entrances and one exit.
“The reason we have those is, again, the efficiency,” Wiley said. “Keeping the drive-thru separate from having to re-enter the folks that are parking there to go into dine-in.”
Following one recusal and one abstention, the remaining board members voted to approve all three variances.
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