Santa Monica : McDonald’s Plan Rejected

After an intense midnight debate, a divided City Council voted Tuesday to deny a request by a McDonald’s restaurant at Colorado Avenue and 2nd Street to build a drive-through window.

The 4-3 vote followed unspecified allegations of special-interest influence by Mayor Ken Genser, whose voice quivered in apparent disgust and anger at the prospect of what he said amounted to spot zoning.

The tension level was so high that Councilman Dennis Zane, who sided with Genser against the proposal, asked Genser and Councilman Kelly Olsen to “cool the unnecessary, inflammatory argumentation. . . . I don’t think this would be the worst thing that could happen to Western civilization.”

After the meeting, Genser said he was upset that proponents of the drive-through window had subverted the process by having too many hired consultants, some of whom purported to be members of the public.

Supporters of the drive-through window argued that it would offer families and poor people the same convenience that the affluent enjoy with valet parking at expensive restaurants nearby.

The council vote overturned a Planning Commission decision but followed a staff recommendation that the request be denied on grounds that the drive-through window contradicted the pedestrian orientation of downtown Santa Monica.