‘Please do not hate me’: Walnut Creek fight over Chick-fil-A catches small bakery in the crossfire

WALNUT CREEK — Plans for a new Chick-fil-A at a Walnut Creek shopping center have erupted into an intense spat between hundreds of neighbors and city planners — and caught one of the last tenants there in the crossfire.

Residents and public officials are at odds about whether replacing a vacant bank at the Citrus Marketplace Shopping Center with the fast food chicken chain will bring new life to this sleepy Walnut Creek plaza, or further inundate traffic along the bustling Ygnacio Valley Road commuter bypass nearby.