Resident Launches Petition Drive Opposing New Chick-Fil-A In Newtown

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A Newtown Township resident has launched an online petition drive against a proposal to build a Chick-Fil-A restaurant on the east side of the township.

Newtown Equities, LLC, has filed a zoning application with the township to build a 6,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru at the former site of the TD Bank at 98 Upper Silver Lake Road near its intersection with Newtown-Yardley Road.

The property is diagonally across the Newtown Bypass from the site of the new Wawa convenience store and gas station approved by the township last year through a settlement agreement.

Newtown Equities has not formally presented its plan at a township meeting. It had been scheduled to appear before the planning commission on April 16, but several hours before the meeting asked to be removed from the agenda.

Donna Serdula, a resident of the 50-home Wiltshire Walk development, which is located within 500 feet of the site of the proposed restaurant, said she's "deeply concerned" by the proposal.

So much so that she launched an online petition drive this week and said she's working to organize her neighbors in opposition to the plan.

"We fear this development will bring noise, smell pollution, traffic congestion, and block emergency access to several houses due to increased traffic. Moreover, it poses an environmental threat as it is situated right by Silver Lake," Serdula writes in her online petition.

"Please protect our community from unnecessary disruption and potential harm caused by this proposed construction project," the petition continues. "Sign this petition today to halt zoning changes allowing Chick-fil-A's construction in our beloved town of Newtown."

Serdula said the proposed Chick-Fil-A is not just a Wiltshire Walk issue.

"This is a much bigger issue that's going to affect all of Newtown," said Serdula, pointing to everyone who uses the Newtown-Yardley Road to access the bypass. "It's over-development. It's traffic.

"What people don't realize is that this proposed Chick-Fil-A is not on the Newtown Bypass. It's on Newtown-Yardley Road and Upper Silver Lake Road. And Newtown-Yardley Road can't handle the existing traffic. In the morning, you're already sitting through two or three lights to get to the bypass. If there's a Chick-Fil-A there, you're not even going to be able to make a left onto the bypass. It's going to become impossible.

"And we don't even have the Wawa yet," added Serdula. "On top of that, the township is working to change the zoning of the Newtown Business Commons to bring in different types of uses to support the local businesses. That's going to bring in traffic.

"Chick-Fil-A doesn't want to build there because they want to support the community," Serdula said. "They already have a Chick-Fil-A a few miles away. They're building there because they want to pull in business from I-295 and from the drivers getting gas at the Wawa," she said.

Serdula said the township and its residents need to start thinking seriously about what they'd like Newtown to be - a quiet, residential community or a traffic nightmare.

"We've already allowed Wawa to take one spot (at the intersection of Route 332 and Newtown-Yardley Road). Chick-Fil-A is now gunning for the other spot. That means two more lots could potentially be developed. If that happens, it's going to be the death knell of that intersection. It will become dangerous. It will be overcrowded. And it's going to make commuting in and out of Newotwn impossible. We built that bypass to make it easy. It's no longer going to be a bypass. It's going to be Route One," she said.

In addition to signing the petition, Serdula is encouraging residents to reach out to the township supervisors in opposition to the plan.

"We need to do everything in our power to oppose this," said Serdula. "It's not zoned for it and they need variances. Right now we need to get the supervisors on our side. We need to get our voices heard at the planning commission, the board of supervisors and at the zoning board."

To read her petition, click here.