TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. – The Town Board approved the site plan for a 5,198-square-foot Chick-fil-A drive-thru to replace the soon-to-be-demolished Red Lobster sit-down restaurant.
The Town Board unanimously authorized the site plan during its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 16.
Project representative Timothy Freitag said he doesn’t expect work to begin before Thanksgiving.
“There’s no set start date, yet,” he said. “With the approvals, it will get into motion with Chick-fil-A to start setting those timelines. … When they start construction, then they have an idea when they’ll open.”
The application proposes to take down the existing 8,400-square-foot building to construct a 5,198-square-foot restaurant with drive-thru, featuring two meal ordering canopies that are 1,437square feet and 1,900 square feet, and 101 parking spaces.
“This drive-thru capacity has spaces for 32 vehicles,” Freitag said.
“We initially started in the 18 to 20 (vehicles) range and realized we needed to expand that in the upstate market,” he said. “Higher 20s is what’s observed during peak times.”
Developers plan to have all traffic enter the site from Miron Lane, with about half exiting onto U.S. Route 9W.
The application estimates weekday morning peak traffic from the Chick-fil-A would be 28 vehicles entering and 25 exiting, midday peak at 172 entering and 166 exiting, and evening peak at 142 entering and 119 exiting. Saturday peak traffic would be 195 vehicles entering and 187 exiting.
There is expected to be a higher traffic volume when the shop initially opens.
“Everybody’s excited to go try it,” Freitag said. “The drive-thru queue does get longer those first two weeks. Chick-fil-A will partner with the town…Police Department to provide additional traffic control, should it be needed.”
Developers wrote that the site would hire between 125 to 150 employees with store hours from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Overall, the project with landscaping and parking area will involve about 2.66 acres of the 11.2-acres parcel owned by CR Kingston Associates LLC. Other business areas on the parcel include the former Sonic drive-thru restaurant and Shoprite supermarket.
Site plan for the Chick-fil-A drive-thru that will replace the former Red Lobster in the town of Ulster. (Provided)
Originally Published: October 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM EDT