Chick-fil-A eyes Palm Springs location, draws criticism over prior anti-gay-marriage stance

Chick-fil-A has set its sights on opening its first ever location in Palm Springs, but the initial reaction of some residents to the news indicates the fried chicken sandwich chain’s potential arrival in the famously LGBTQ-friendly city will come served with a big side of controversy.

Chick-fil-A Inc. is seeking to build a nearly 6,000-square-foot restaurant with three drive-thru lanes in The Springs, a shopping plaza at the northeast corner of Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail, according to plans submitted to the city and signs the planning department placed in the area. The restaurant would go on a piece of land that now includes a T-Mobile store and would have indoor and outdoor dining areas with 84 seats and 24 seats, respectively.

City spokesperson Amy Blaisdell confirmed to The Desert Sun Wednesday that the project is currently "on hold" while Chick-fil-A finalizes lease terms with the shopping center. However, preliminary site plans submitted to the city show the Chick-fil-A replacing an existing structure on the south side of the shopping center, which is largely vacant except for the T-Mobile.

The new restaurant would require permits for zoning modifications that would need to be approved by the city’s planning commission as well as a review by the city’s architectural review commission. Blaisdell said no planning commission hearing has been scheduled as the project is on hold.

According to the company website, the first Chick-fil-A was opened by founder Truett S. Cathy in 1967 in Atlanta (although the company says its roots can be traced back to an earlier Atlanta restaurant opened by Cathy in 1946). Today the company boasts more than 3,000 locations and is known for its sandwiches, waffle fries and use of darkly comic billboards emblazoned with cow mascots that encourage those whizzing by to “eat mor chikin.”

While the chain was long known as a staple of the American south, it is now a major fast food presence nationwide and has made a big push into the Coachella Valley since the area’s first location opened in Palm Desert in the summer of 2022. Prior to that, the closest location to the Coachella Valley was in Yucaipa.

The company has since received approval for new locations in Palm Desert and north Indio, but the proposed Palm Springs location would be its first in the west Coachella Valley.

If it ultimately moves forward, the new location would position the intersection of Gene Autry and Ramon as a focal point of fried chicken competition. The area is already home to an outpost of the popular Raising Cane’s chicken finger chain south of Ramon Road, which has done brisk business since it opened in 2022.

Proposal draws controversy

The proposal, however, is meeting resistance from many residents who have taken to social media to voice their displeasure about the plans, with some calling on the city not to allow Chick-fil-A to open and many declaring they would not patronize the business.

Much of that backlash relates to the company’s status as a culture war lightning rod stemming from 2012 comments made by the company’s famously religious CEO Dan Cathy, the son of its founder, voicing opposition to gay marriage. The company also received similar criticism for years for donating money to organizations that have opposed gay marriage and other LGBTQ rights.

However, USA Today and other outlets reported that the company stopped donating to some, but not all, of those groups in 2012 and ended donations to the last three, The Salvation Army, The Fellowship for Christian Athletes and an Atlanta youth home, in 2019.

The controversy around Cathy's positions and the donations have sometimes created obstacles to new locations for the company. In England, a shopping center announced it would not be renewing the company’s lease following backlash against it from LGBTQ rights supporters. And in Buffalo, New York, and San Antonio, Texas, Chick-fil-A was not given the greenlight to open in those cities' airports because of opposition.

While it will not be up to the Palm Springs city council to consider whether to approve the new location, Palm Springs Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein took to Facebook to weigh in on the controversy.

Bernstein is gay himself, and most of the council are members of the LGBTQ community.

“I want to be clear that while I may not agree with others’ political views, I do not want to violate anyone’s rights by denying a land use entitlement based on the political beliefs or contributions of the applicant,” Bernstein wrote. “I am a strong advocate for businesses that align with our city’s vision, including economic stewardship, supporting locally owned businesses, supporting a healthy community, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Chick-fil-A eyes first Palm Springs location; controversy follows