FULLERTON : Plans for Fast-Food Restaurant OKd

City Council members have approved plans to place a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant near a busy intersection on Imperial Highway, despite protests from nearly 100 nearby residents that the establishment would generate traffic, graffiti, trash and crime.

In a unanimous vote last week, the council allowed Merrill Development to lease space to the fast-food chain at the northwest corner of Palm Street and Imperial Highway. The chain plans to build a 2,400-square-foot restaurant at the site with a drive-through window.

Residents in nearby neighborhoods filled council chambers, saying that the area already has enough problems with traffic accidents, graffiti and loitering.

“Is this restaurant really necessary?” said Harry Ludwig, who lives in the Landmark Homes development just across the street. “What we are looking at is just adding to something we do not need.”

Jack-in-the-Box officials said residents’ fears about crime were exaggerated. They also added that the traffic generated from their project would be minimal.

In 1979, the site had been zoned for one 7,500-square-foot sit-down restaurant. But owners of the site say that they have been unable to find a tenant.

So, Merrill Development opted to split the site up into two smaller business pads, which total less than 7,500 square feet when combined. Jack-in-the-Box will take one, and Merrill Development is seeking a tenant for the remaining 3,000-square-foot pad.

“It’s really an issue of property rights,” said Mayor Chris Norby. “We really don’t have the power or rights to prevent people from developing (at that site).”