Chick-fil-A gobbles up Marin County site

A restaurant site in Novato was bought last month by southern chicken chain Chick-fil-A, which plans to use the site to launch their first North Bay location by 2014.

A brokerage that represented Chick-fil-A told the IJ the chain paid $2.7 million for the Novato location off 101 at Rowland, currently a Carl’s Jr. (Without a Green Burrito, for whatever that’s worth.)

Fairfield is the closest Chick-fil-A has yet ventured toward the exceedingly gay Bay Area, though a Walnut Creek location is set to debut next month. Two separate Mountain View groups are squaring off against a location there on gay rights and land use grounds.

Never shy about its conservative leanings, Chick-fil-A thrust itself into the gay marriage debate earlier this year with divisive remarks reaffirming their accepted biblical definition of marriage.

Customers by the thousands clogged drive-through lanes across the country earlier this month as a show of national support for the chain. A counter-protest “kiss-in” by opponents days later drew mostly small crowds.

Chick-fil-A has said on their website they want to stick to chicken and stay out of the same-sex marriage fray. Mayors like San Francisco’s own Ed Lee have publicly scolded the chain over their values and statements.