Council steers away from change on drive-thru ban in La Cañada Flintridge

La Cañada Flintridge’s 15-year ban on new drive-thrus will stand, despite years of research into a possible reversal, after council members elected Tuesday not to change local regulations to allow for such facilities at local businesses.

Among the arguments for their continued exclusion from the city’s zoning ordinance and Downtown Village Specific Plan, a design and planning document for the city’s town center, were that drive-thrus would negatively impact local traffic, increase vehicle emissions and hamstring La Cañada’s overall walkability.

“I hate to tie the hands of our businesses,” said Councilwoman Terry Walker, who opposed the ordinance. “However, I also think that we need to look at the ideas behind our general plan — we want to reduce pollution. We want to reduce car trips. We want to encourage healthy lifestyles.”

The idea of lifting the prohibition was brought before the council in 2012, when business owner Bill Khoury requested a drive-thru coffee window and some cafe facilities at his Shell gas station on Angeles Crest Highway near Foothill Boulevard.

Since then, several iterations of possible ordinances pertaining to La Cañada’s commercial zone passed through the city’s Planning Commission, Public Works and Traffic Commission as well as a committee convened specifically to address drive-thrus.

On Tuesday, council members were asked to vote on an ordinance crafted to prevent proliferation of the facilities. The regulation required preparation of a traffic impact analysis for each new proposed drive-thru and included restrictions pertaining to lane length, queuing, placement, landscaping and noise, among other mandates.

“It is a good ordinance, as it’s prepared, for doing the job it would do if you want to allow a drive-thru facility in our city,” Community Development Director Robert Stanley told the council.

La Cañada resident Chris deFaria wondered whether the ordinance would open the door to more fast food restaurants in town. He made reference to studies that indicate zoning restrictions against drive-thrus as viable ways of keeping fast food at bay in small towns.

“I dare say one of the reasons why we don’t have more new fast food restaurants opening up in La Cañada is that they don’t have drive-thru capabilities here,” deFaria said.

Resident Randy Strapazon questioned whether the issue merited the years of research undertaken by the city, when residents didn’t seem to be behind a new ordinance in the first place.

“Is this a resident-driven thing?” Strapazon asked. “I don’t see a big push for that. If we just want to have a coffee shop drive-thru off of Angeles Crest, do you have to have an ordinance?”

Strapazon reminded the council it didn’t seem fitting to pass a regulation that would increase vehicle emissions at the same time La Cañada officials have vociferously opposed a 710 Freeway extension for the same reason.

That point resonated with Mayor Pro Tem Jon Curtis, who said food-related drive-thrus seem to fly in the face of other initiatives the city has undertaken to promote healthy lifestyles and walkability. He suggested possibly segregating drive-thru proposals based on use.

Council members Mike Davitt and Len Pieroni expressed support of the ordinance, feeling its restrictions sufficient enough to stem proliferation and that there could be potentially beneficial kinds of drive-thrus.

Mayor Dave Spence, a pro-business politician who sat on the City Council when the ban was passed in 2000, called the decision a difficult one but decided against the ordinance, in part, because of the city’s activism against plans for the 710 Freeway over vehicle emissions.

“I know the planning commission and the staff have spent a tremendous amount of time trying to look at everything possible,” Spence said. “(But) I am going to vote to not support this ordinance.”

Ultimately, the council voted 4-1 to file and receive the staff report, allowing the prohibition to remain. Pieroni was the lone no vote.

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine