From time to time we have ranted about our overlords on the Board of Supervisors not having a vision for our community. We have noted that our General Plan is remarkably out of date. We have mentioned the declining state of commercial properties like the old Mike's Market (among others). We have pointed out that the Zoning Ordinance is loosey-goosey, that the CPAC turns deaf ears to the community, that code enforcement is pretty much random, and that out-of-area property owners are given the widest latitude. It's all about the County's "something is better than nothing" mantra and the great wisdom of our leaders. But you know what? Maybe we've been wrong -- maybe the Board of Supervisors has intended what's best for us all along: drive-through chicken!

Yes, indeed, now that the large Chick-fil-A is under construction at Country Club Plaza, the plan has finally come to light. The intersection of Watt and El Camino, which is just about dead center for our large Metro Area, will soon have not one, not two, but THREE - count 'em! THREE! - fast-food, drive-through, chicken sandwich places. First, Popeye's replaced the Valero's station on the NE corner. Then Raising Cane's went in on the SW corner where Lyon's restaurant used to be. Now, next to the Union Bank ATM on the SE corner, and across the street from the Amazon Fresh ghost market, we are getting the Chick-fil-A. Wow! What a brilliant economic development strategy, having three businesses sell the same product in the same place, trying to knock the other guy out.

We should mention that having three fast-food, chicken sandwich places plus a gas station/convenience store is something of an upgrade from what seemed to be the Supervisor's former emphasis: a place to buy to-go alcohol on all four corners. At Watt and El Camino you can get to-go alcohol on one corner and you have a choice of three chicken sandwich businesses for the rest of your meal. Then you can sit in a parking lot (at the empty new Amazon building, perhaps?) and chow down while watching the traffic go by. Or, if you are homeless - as are many of the residents of the old Sam's/Tower Books/Tower Records building on the NE corner of Watt and El Camino - your dining choices have been expanded and made much more convenient. And you can still get your beer on your way to and from the chicken place. Or, perhaps, get a grab-and-go chicken sandwich at the 7-11 on the NW corner of the intersection.

Cities are not perfect, but they rarely, if ever, would allow anything this silly at the heart of their community. In any other Metro Area in the country - if not the world -  this situation would be beyond anyone's comprehension. Hey, but not here in the good old unincorporated nowhere land of Arden Arcade. Here a developer can build a large apartment complex somewhere that is neither pedestrian nor bicycle-friendly and has really bad transit service. We wouldn't dare consider innovative ways to deal with commercial property. Our municipal services provider (the County) talks about mixed use, but does not convert the talk to action because that's not how short-term profits flow to developers. Instead, our local government tolerates - maybe even encourages - whatever an out-of-area commercial property owner wants for a quick buck. Like, say, a big laundromat at a large mall, lots of discount stores that sell stuff that won't last or that you don't really need, or abundant self-storage places. Our local plethora of retail commercial land has led us to endure empty buildings and strip malls and car lots where there used to be houses. Now, if we only had more Dutch Brothers....