Olympia Chick-fil-A meeting ends early after city limits comments to focus only on project
An online informational meeting about a proposed Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurant in west Olympia ended 30 minutes early on Tuesday after city officials limited public comment to the project itself, not comments on the business’ politics.
The city’s site plan review committee holds such meetings to answer questions about codes and ordinances and for the developer or applicant to answer questions about the project.
“There have been some community concerns expressed about business practices associated with Chick-fil-A,” said Associate Planner Jackson Ewing, “but this is not something that is under discussion at this meeting.”
The Chick-fil-A has been proposed on Capital Mall property at 2930 Capital Mall Drive SW, the same location as an existing restaurant called Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse. The owner of that business says he intends to move to 1200 Cooper Point Road SW early next year after his lease expires.
About 25 people were listening in on the meeting, and the first question came from Timothy Leadingham of west Olympia who wanted to know more about the trees at the development site.
A representative of Chick-fil-A said that 116 trees would remain on the site, 21 would be added and 11 that are either unhealthy or dying would be removed.
Leadingham’s question: How many significant-size trees are you removing because they are unhealthy and what is the health problem?
In response, the representative simply reiterated that 11 trees would be removed, 80 percent of which are considered unhealthy or dying.
Another man, who identified himself as David B. for the Zoom meeting, was undeterred in his efforts to criticize Chick-fil-A .He drew an alleged connection between Chick-fil-A and anti-LGBTQ legislation in the African country of Uganda.
“My question has to do with health and safety,” he said. “Given that your organization has donated very heavily to back a death penalty-granting bill in Uganda, how many gay men such as myself do you intend to hang from these trees?”
At that point, David B. was muted. Then he un-muted himself.
“Excuse me, you don’t get to mute me,” he said.
He continued: “How many gay and lesbian persons do you intend to murder with the money your organization raises from selling chicken?
That prompted principal planner Nicole Floyd to interrupt him. “I can appreciate where you’re coming from, but this is off topic for the project,” she said.
After David B. interjected, Floyd added: “This really isn’t a meeting where we’re going to talk about philosophical perspectives.”
Although David B. remained muted for the rest of the meeting, he later turned on his video camera and extended both middle fingers to the audience.
It was not immediately clear if there’s a connection between Chick-fil-A and anti-LGBTQ legislation in Uganda. What is clear is that past donations made by Chick-fil-A or company executives to anti-LGBTQ causes has not been forgotten or overlooked by the LGBTQ community.
People spoke out after the Lacey-based Chick-fil-A sponsored that city’s Children’s Day at Huntamer Park. That outcry ultimately led to a sponsorship policy change at the city.
Olympia resident Leadingham suggested the city of Olympia have an in-person meeting on the project before the end of the month, claiming that the city’s public notice of application was later than usual.
“And now you’re cutting off comments on Sept. 15,” he said.
Floyd said the city will still accept comments after Sept. 15, but she urged residents to try to meet the deadline.
If you would like to comment on the Chick-fil-A proposal for west Olympia, send comments to Jackson Ewing at jewing@ci.olympia.wa.us.
This story was originally published September 6, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
