Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 27, 2012 at 8:51 am

So Mountain View is not going to have any more drive thrus? We shall have to see if they keep that next time there is a request.

Posted by Nayeli, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Dec 27, 2012 at 11:07 am
Nayeli is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

I wish that there was a Chick-fil-A nearby! I have driven to the restaurant in San Jose (off of 237) a few times!

I guess David Speakman is "proud" of himself.

Posted by Nayeli, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Dec 27, 2012 at 11:09 am
Nayeli is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

I still hope that they save Hangar One!

Posted by Abused Power, a resident of Mountain View, on Dec 27, 2012 at 12:54 pm

Council rejection of the Chick-fil-A application had nothing to do with the plan to put in a drive through, to install a stop-light, or draw potential traffic to a neigborhood located one mile away.

El Camino Real is a highway. Most businesses on that 3 mile stretch are automobile centered. So it is not now a pedestrian boulevard, and it never will be, despite council's projected vision.

Neigbors by the site in question supported the plan. The Chamber of Commerce supported the plan. 25 people wrote and spoke in support of the plan. They, like you, Nayeli, did not want to have to continue to drive to San Jose, for this special chicken treat.

This would have been an ideal location for a drive-through, and it was located further from any apartments than are all the other drive-thoughs on El Camino now.

This was about a small group of people that, for the summer months leading up to the October city council meeting that decided the fate of the application, were vocal about their objection, stating in numerous newspaper articles that it was 100% due to the company's stance on preserving traditional marriage. If a bar with live music wanted to go in there (allowable by zoning, by the way), they would not have objected to it.

So it was Chick-fil-A's corporate stance on preserving traditional marriage that was THE factor that two appeals to the initial Planning dept. approval were filed, and it was why a small group of people as far as a few miles away, joined in the protest.

Despite their wimpy and transparent excuses when they voted, it was why 4 members of council abused their power, and successfully kept a business out of Mountain View.

What happened was unconstitutional. Where is the outrage? It's Chick-fil-A in October, and perhaps your business will be kept out of Mountain View tomorrow, for political reasons and not for zoning.

With the MV Chamber of Commerce CEO ignored, Mountain View City Council showed it is not business-friendly, unless you're Google or you have high-powered connections and money $$$ to fund pet projects.

Mostly women are on council, but they act like Big Brothers. Overall, the public was not well-served by their decision. Now they're on to banning plastic bags.

Posted by Don Draper wins, a resident of Mountain View, on Dec 27, 2012 at 1:01 pm

Fast food is now "this special chicken treat"??

That's like saying that Jack in the Box's 2 for 99 cent "tacos" are real food. They're not, and fast food is not a "special chicken treat".

Game over. Television Marketing has won over common sense. Draper won years ago.

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Save Hanger One.