A proposed Chick-fil-A at Clifton's ON3 campus remains stuck in planning limbo after the city's Planning Board spent last week's meeting picking apart stormwater calculations instead of voting on the project. The board took up the application again on Thursday but reached no decision, meaning the fast-food giant's push into the sprawling Route 3 redevelopment will carry into November.
Drainage Questions Dominate Latest Hearing
According to News12 New Jersey, Thursday's discussion centered on stormwater management for the proposed restaurant, which per planning documents would rise at 340 Kingsland St., part of the former Hoffmann-La Roche property now being redeveloped as ON3. Vincent Kelly, the applicant's engineer at Colliers Engineering & Design, told the board the stormwater report had been revised following additional soil testing, and he defended the project's drainage calculations, per the station's report. The board did not vote on the application, and the hearing is set to resume in November.
The scrutiny echoes concerns raised earlier in the review process. Back in April, Nutley Lumber opposed the proposal outright, with its attorney, Davis, questioning both the stormwater management approach and the availability of underlying calculations, as The Clifton Times reported. That April meeting was also carried over without a vote after the session hit its 10 p.m. cutoff, a pattern that has now repeated into the fall.
What the Project Would Bring to the Site
Plans call for a roughly 5,200-square-foot restaurant with two drive-thru lanes and 73 parking spaces, per planning documents cited by News12 New Jersey. The Clifton Times has reported differing figures in its own coverage, describing the proposal as a 5,200-square-foot quick-serve restaurant with dual drive-through lanes and 73 parking spaces, while also citing dual-lane drive-through ordering with capacity for roughly 41 queued cars and 71 on-site parking spaces, including two for electric vehicles. The same outlet's earlier report described 90 indoor seats, 10 outdoor seats and a children's play area as part of the layout.
Despite the sparring over square footage and stormwater math, the restaurant has cleared other hurdles. Police and Fire officials have signed off on the plans, which include ADA-accessible routes and emergency-vehicle circulation, and the Planning Board had already approved a minor subdivision needed to adjust the site's lot dimensions, according to The Clifton Times. The location is projected to employ 80 to 100 workers, with roughly half expected to work full time, and would operate Monday through Saturday until 10 p.m. while staying closed on Sundays, the same outlet reported.
A Growing Corner of the ON3 Campus
The proposed Chick-fil-A would mark the chain's 68th New Jersey location and sits in a corner of the 116-acre ON3 campus along Route 3 near Isabella Street, as NorthJersey.com reported. The sprawling redevelopment occupies the former Hoffmann-La Roche site, which developer Prism Capital Partners purchased about a decade ago, and already includes a Starbucks that has opened along with a Chipotle that has been approved but not yet built, per that outlet.
ON3's future buildout is ambitious: plans call for a 261-room Marriott hotel, a 3,500-square-foot Panera Bread, a midsized supermarket and a 1,078-unit apartment complex, NorthJersey.com reported. The campus is also anchored by Quest Diagnostics, which runs a 250,000-square-foot facility on the Clifton side employing about 1,100 workers. For now, the Chick-fil-A proposal remains pending, with the Planning Board's next look at the stormwater fight expected in November.
