Mar. 6—Drive-thrus played a starring role during the pandemic, helping businesses stay afloat and customers stay safe.

But some Mesa City Council members think the growth of drive-thru businesses has gone too far.

They are concerned that drive-thrus

today dominate whole intersections and street fronts, hurting the city's appearance and walkability and, in some cases, adversely affecting nearby neighborhoods and

businesses.

"We have been seeing a lot of development applications come in recently where it is just a string of drive thru-facilities on frontages," Assistant Planning Director Rachel Prelog told the council at its Feb. 23 study session, "and they basically act as auto courts, like food courts for drive-thrus."

Commercial zones host most of the drive-thrus in Mesa, but they are also allowed downtown and in industrial districts. The city allows drive-thrus in some commercial district types "by right" — without a permit — and through a special use permit in other commercial districts.

After meeting with council members to discuss concerns with drive-thrus last year, city staff took a close look at the issue and studied options for addressing impacts.

Last week, Prelog and Development Services Director Nana Appiah presented three proposed zoning rule changes that could give the city tools for slowing the rate of new drive-thru businesses in Mesa and give the city more opportunities to weigh in on drive-thru projects before they are built.

The proposed changes would ban drive-thrus in Neighborhood Commercial districts — the lightest commercial district — and require a special use permit for them in Limited Commercial areas, where they are currently allowed by right. City staff also recommended allowing no more than three drive-thrus on an intersection or in a row.

Staff told council members the suggested zone changes will go to the Planning and Zoning Board for a study session in March or April and receive stakeholder and public feedback in May or June. Prelog said the final recommendations could change as the proposals go through the process.

Prelog said that from a design perspective, drive-thrus pose a challenge to architects aiming to integrate them smoothly into the surrounding space. They disrupt the flow of pedestrians and bikers more than walk-in businesses do and bring an extra set of impacts for surrounding neighborhoods.

"We have noise from idling cars and their speaker boxes," she said. "We usually have multiple access driveways, which creates conflicts with pedestrian and bicycle activity. We also have large parking areas facing the street and large setbacks that really distract from the goals of creating this walkable, intractable relationship to the surrounding neighborhoods."

Councilman Kevin Thompson said

his district is being "inundated" with drive-thrus.

"What's happening in District 6 is we're having McDonalds, Burger Kings popping up on every single corner, and that's not what the community wants," Thompson said. "But we don't have any (process) that we can go back and say, 'OK, Mr. Developer, we don't want a McDonalds or Burger King or Jack in the Box. We want (restaurants) that our citizens can sit down at and enjoy a meal.'"

He described attending a community meeting with a developer to discuss visions for a planned commercial area.

"Every single resident in there said, 'please don't bring more fast food,' and the two things the (developers) led with first — McDonalds and, right next door, Burger King," Thompson said. He described a similar experience with a development that ended up putting in five drive-thrus.

"Five drive-thrus," he said, "on a pristine piece of dirt that really is going to be your focus when you're coming into Mesa from the east. Is that really what we want to portray as you enter our city — that we're a city of fast food?"

City spokesman Kevin Christopher said Mesa doesn't keep track of how many drive-thrus are in the city.

Prelog said the Planning Department zeroed in on the Neighborhood Commercial and Limited Commercial districts for changes because these areas are intended to promote "walkability, bikeability, ... connections to the neighborhoods and their aesthetics, and keeping (neighborhoods) intact."

Neighborhood Commercial and Limited Commercial are also intended to serve residents living in a smaller area than other commercial districts, she said — 1/2 to 2 miles for the Neighborhood Commercial and up to 10 miles for Limited Commercial.

How large of an impact would the proposed zoning changes have on car-focused businesses?

Neighborhood Commercial comprises a relatively small part of the city, at 288 acres, so a prohibition on new drive-thrus here would affect a relatively small area. Limited Commercial zoning, on the other hand, is much larger at 4,334 acres, so the proposed requirement for a SUP might be more impactful.

Limiting the consecutive drive-thrus and those at intersections to three could affect an even larger area.

Councilman Francisco Heredia spoke in favor of the proposed zoning changes, saying he thought it was important for residents and city staff to have an opportunity to give input before drive-thrus are approved in certain areas.

"You know, I have kids, too, and drive-thrus are easy to get food," Heredia said. "You see a value, but I think it's an important aspect to have a discussion on some areas. If we already have enough drive-thrus, how do we use the land available that is there to maximize the best use of that area?"

Heredia also made a case that requiring permits for drive-thru projects could be good for the industry, since it would challenge developers and architects to innovate and create designs that work better with the surrounding area.

Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury inclined toward giving developers and businesses the opportunity to improve their designs, rather than banning them outright in certain zones.

"Having six kids, drive-thrus are my best friend," Spilsbury said. "When they were all little, I loved a drive-thru. They're not always a bad thing."

The city's approach to managing drive-thrus could change in the planning process in the coming months. Appiah said planners will need to hammer out several issues, such as defining what constitutes a drive-thru. Council members wondered if pharmacies and banks should be lumped together with fast-food restaurants.

"I know since the pandemic, one of the discussions we've been having is the difference between a drive-thru and a drive-up window," he said. "So that may be something that we can go back and look at defining and coming up with a distinction between those two and seeing how it can be incorporated into the changes."

In their presentation, city staff focused on the drive-thrus' impact on traffic and pedestrian flow, without regard to any specific types of businesses.

Thompson and Heredia directed many of their comments toward the oversaturation of fast food businesses in particular. The end goal for stakeholders and policy makers may shape the approach the city takes to manage drive-thrus.

"I'm sure there's a lot of folks in the business community and others that will want to have their voices heard on this," Mayor John Giles said, "so we'll kick off the process." ν