Drive Ritchie Highway south from Arnold Road toward the US 50 interchange and you pass a wooded, sloped lot beside the CVS. It has sat at the center of a five-year fight over a Chick-fil-A. A few minutes up the road at 1254 Ritchie Highway, a warehouse that housed Providence of Maryland's headquarters now belongs to Royal Farms. Near Mothers, a car wash approved six years ago has a For Sale sign on the property.
None of these sites has a construction date. The one project on this corridor with a public calendar that keeps advancing is the Maryland State Highway Administration's redesign of Route 2 between US 50 and Arnold Road. That work, more than any single storefront, will change how this stretch drives.
Where Each Project Stands as of Early October 2026
| Project | Location | Last public milestone | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chick-fil-A, drive-thru focused | 1500 Ritchie Hwy, south of CVS and Sunoco | Preliminary plan denied 4–3 by the Board of Appeals, July 16, 2026 | No public reporting of an appeal found |
| Royal Farms store and fuel station | 1254 Ritchie Hwy | 5.8 acres bought for $2.85 million, reported July 25, 2026 | Preliminary plan awaiting county approval |
| Tommy's Car Wash | Near Mothers on Rt 2 | Site development plan approved September 24, 2020 | No building permit as of June 2026 |
| MD 2 widening, US 50 to Arnold Rd | Route 2 corridor | 65% design review April 6, 2026; NEPA approval Summer 2026 | Construction date listed as TBD |
The approval columns don't line up with what has actually been built. One project held a full set of county approvals and never broke ground. Another won county approval and lost it on appeal. A third bought its land before getting any approval at all.
The Chick-fil-A Ruling Was Close, and the File May Not Be Closed
The ruling Arnold residents know best came down on July 16, 2026. In a memorandum of opinion, the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals voted 4–3 to deny preliminary plan approval for a 2,852-square-foot Chick-fil-A with a two-lane drive-thru at 1500 Ritchie Highway. The board also denied two related modification requests under the county's retention-below-the-threshold and priority-retention-area provisions. It took nine hearings of public testimony in late 2025 to get there.
The appellants were a mix of neighbors and nearby businesses. Severna Park Voice listed Traynham's Jewelers and Arnold Pharmacy in Arnold Station, the Arnold Manor and Ashcroft homeowners' associations, an Arnold Manor resident, and an LLC tied to nearby resident Elizabeth Rosborg. Rosborg's main argument was about the design. "Our concern is that this is the first drive-thru-centric Chick-fil-A, not only in Anne Arundel County, but in the entire state of Maryland," she told the paper. Lee Wofford, who represented Arnold Manor, said plainly that the objection was to the site and not the company. "I have nothing against Chick-fil-A, never have," he said.
CBS Baltimore reported that the board's opinion found the wooded, sloped property would require extensive clearing and raise traffic concerns, and that other nearby commercial properties would be better suited for the restaurant. The opinion also pointed to the site's size, shape and topography as obstacles to handling drive-thru traffic safely.
The vote split by one. The three dissenting members wrote that the board's only job is to confirm a proposal complies with county code. They said the petitioner's experts and the county's reviewers had presented "overwhelming evidence" that it did. Chick-fil-A had 30 days from July 16 to appeal. As of early October 2026, we haven't found any public reporting that the company appealed or withdrew. CBS Baltimore's coverage of the ruling said it was unclear whether Chick-fil-A would appeal. Not finding a filing in the news doesn't prove there isn't one.
There is another thread in the record. A June 2026 development update from the Campus Green community said Chick-fil-A "is also considering the Bay Dale Shopping Center." No company announcement has confirmed that. But it means the July ruling settled one parcel. It didn't settle whether a Chick-fil-A comes to Arnold.
Royal Farms Bought First and Is Still Waiting on the County
The Royal Farms project started from the other end. Two Farms Inc., the Baltimore company behind Royal Farms, paid $2.85 million for 1254 Ritchie Highway, according to a deed Eye On Annapolis reported on July 25, 2026. The 5.8-acre property includes a 7,819-square-foot warehouse.
The plan is a convenience store and fuel station. A preliminary plan has been submitted but did not have final county approval as of that report. Store size, pump count and construction timing had not been announced. The Arnold Preservation Council, which posted county comments and a meeting recording during the Chick-fil-A review, lists Royal Farms on its project page. It hasn't posted a position yet. Since July we haven't found any reported hearings, objections or approvals. So the honest status is pending. A store that is coming soon is a different thing.
An Approval Six Years Old, With a For Sale Sign
Tommy's Car Wash near Mothers on Route 2 shows what happens after approval. The Campus Green update shows its preliminary plan approved September 4, 2019, and its site development plan approved September 24, 2020. The building permit column is blank. The deadline to apply for that permit has been extended more than once, and as of June 28, 2026, a For Sale sign was on the property.
The same update describes the county process in three stages: a preliminary or sketch plan, then a site development or final plan where adequate public facilities are determined, then a building permit. Tommy's cleared the first two stages years ago. The Chick-fil-A was knocked back at the first. Royal Farms is still in the first. On this corridor, getting through a stage hasn't predicted when anything opens.
The Road Is the Project With a Calendar
SHA's project for MD 2 between US 50 and Arnold Road is in design, and its scope reaches well past a single parcel. According to the project portal, it includes:
- A continuous third northbound through lane on MD 2 from US 50 to Arnold Road
- Bicycle facilities from MD 648F, Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, to Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard and Old Frederick Road
- ADA-compliant sidewalks and ramps leading up to Arnold Road
- A sidewalk extension along Severn Way and Arnold Road from MD 2 out to the Baltimore Annapolis Trail
- Changes to the Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard and Old Frederick Road intersection
The schedule has moved in a way the private projects haven't. The 30% design milestone came on June 3, 2024. SHA held a public open house at Anne Arundel Community College on January 30, 2025. Design work on a Mill Creek culvert replacement was underway by December 2025. The 65% design review, which the portal had expected in fall 2025, took place April 6, 2026, and National Environmental Policy Act approval came in Summer 2026. Construction is still listed as TBD.
So no one can put a date on it yet. Still, the road project has crossed design and environmental milestones on a published track while the commercial parcels around it stayed where they were.
That matters for the Chick-fil-A site in particular. The parcel sits by the Arnold Road intersection just before the US 50 interchange, inside the stretch SHA plans to widen. The corridor drivers saw debated in those 2025 hearings is the same one SHA is redesigning. The planned third northbound lane and the new sidewalk along Severn Way and Arnold Road both run through the same stretch as these parcels.
How to Follow Each One
- Chick-fil-A at 1500 Ritchie Highway. Watch local coverage in Severna Park Voice and CBS Baltimore for any sign of an appeal. Treat the Bay Dale Shopping Center mention as unconfirmed until the company says something.
- Royal Farms at 1254 Ritchie Highway. The next public step is county action on the preliminary plan. The Arnold Preservation Council's project page is where documents on this corridor have shown up before.
- Tommy's Car Wash near Mothers. Its approvals still exist on paper, but a For Sale sign means a new owner could bring a different plan.
- MD 2 widening. SHA's project portal posts dated updates. The next big one to look for is a construction schedule.
One more item is in the same county pipeline. The Severna Park Golf Center townhome proposal, CD-2026-0005, was under review as of June 2026.
If you own along this corridor and want to know how a pending Royal Farms, a denied drive-thru or a future third lane factors into your home's value, Romeo Santos III and the Romeo Santos Group follow these filings as closely as the sales. Get your free home valuation and we'll go through what Route 2's pipeline means for your property.
