City Commissioners unanimously approved the vacation of a portion of 10th Alley South for the planned Chick-fil-A at 721 10th Ave. S.
Alleys are public rights-of-way maintained by the street. Vacating an alley or street means the city is transferring ownership and maintenance responsibility of that space to a private property owner and it is no longer public property.
The request does not include vacating the alley portion adjacent to existing houses in the northeast corner of the block and those houses aren’t included as part of the project.
City staff said one person submitted written comment expressing concern about commercial development encroaching into the residential area.
City Commission sets April 21 hearing on Chick-fil-A alley vacation request
Commissioner Joe McKenney joked it was no fun without no opposition during a public hearing, to which Commissioner Rick Tryon said, “who could be against Chick-fil-A?”
The applicant told commissioners that they were ready to move forward with the project once the alley vacation was approved.
Chick-fil-A’s plan removes the existing former H-O Paint building to build the restaurant on the southeastern portion of the property, with parking and a stormwater detention pond on the western portion of the project.
City considering alley vacation for Chick-fil-A
The Electric first reported in January 2025 that Chick-fil-A had filed a traffic study for the same site, and reported in January 2026 that the restaurant had submitted a building permit application and requested the alley vacation.
Chick-fil-A requested that the city vacate the western portion of the alley to use land on both sides of the alley and aggregate all parcels into a single parcel, reducing the “potential legal and administrative complexity for the development,” according to staff.
The proposed site plan includes the restaurant with 39 parking spaces south of the alley and 38 parking spaces and stormwater detention pond north of the alley, according to the restaurant’s vacation request.
“To maximize efficiency in site circulation and parking, two of the proposed landscape islands are proposed encroaching into the alley from the north. Vacating the western portion of the alley will allow Chick-fil-A to use the land more effectively and provide the best and safest options for circulation and parking,” according to the restaurant’s request.
Under city code, fast food restaurants must have one parking space per 2.5 seats in the restaurant, plus one per employee per shift. As designed, Chick-fil-A has 106 seats, which equates to 43 parking spaces, plus 30 spaces for employees. Their planned design includes 79 standard parking stalls and four ADA-compliant stalls, according to the draft site plan.
The alleyway will continue to route traffic to and from the restaurant and the city retains utility and public access easements, with alley maintenance of the vacated portion will be assigned to the developer, according to the staff report.
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State law requires commissioners to first adpot a resolution of intent to vacate any public right-of way, then set a public hearing on the request, and requires a petition be sent to property owners abutting the right-of-way. Unless 51 percent of affected property owners oppose it, commissioners may approve the vacation by ordinance.
The same property owner owns all of the properties on either side of the alley portion being considered for vacation.
Commissioners last approved two alley vacations in 2022.
City approves alley vacation for new tire shop [2022]
One was a partial alley vacation in 2022 for the Discount Tire store currently under construction and the other for the Chipotle restaurant.
A spokeswoman for Discount Tire told The Electric in March that the new location is slated to be open by this summer, pending any changes to the construction timeline.
Commissioners vacated a street as part of the C.M. Russell Museum’s expansion project in 2020.
