Middletown PZC Denies Plans For Chick-fil-A, Credit Union Approved Next Door

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Plans for a Chick-fil-A restaurant on Washington Street in Middletown were denied by the Planning and Zoning Commission, while plans for a credit union next door were approved at the same meeting.

The decision leaves the applicant in a precarious position, since the two were submitted under a single site plan with essentially one parking lot, zoning officials said. The denial can now be appealed or new site plans can be sibmitted for the restaurant. The Chick-fil-A application could potentially return before the PZC in the future if the applicant addresses concerns with the proposal and submits a revised application, officials said.

The commission voted 4-3 in favor of the proposed restaurant with a typical Chick-fil-A dual drive-thru at 797 Washington St. during its Sept. 23 meeting.

The application failed because the commission's bylaws require five affirmative votes for approval.

According to plans submitted to the town, the proposed restaurant would have been approximately 5,020 square feet with the dual drive-thru.

The property is currently home to the Partridge-Southmayd Homestead. Under the proposal, the historic structure would have been carefully dismantled and reassembled at a new location in Guilford to make way for the restaurant.

The commission also considered plans for a new Dutch Point Credit Union at 809 Washington St., immediately next door to the proposed restaurant site.

Those plans were approved.

The proposed credit union would include a 2,500-square-foot building with two drive-thru banking lanes.