Drive Thru battles and Local Government
The city council's decision to ban drive-thru restaurants in the downtown area was widely supported by local residents and business owners. One local business owner was quoted as saying, "We want to maintain the small-town charm of our downtown and preserve its pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. Drive-thru restaurants would disrupt this and pose a threat to public safety."
In a June 2022 article by Danny Klein at QSR Magazine, “‘whatever you do at this stage, don’t call the Chipotlane a ‘drive-thru,’ Tabassum Zalotrawala, Chipotle’s chief development officer says. ‘I refuse,’ she notes. ‘It is a pickup lane.’” Whether it’s a Chipotlane, pick up window or drive thru, in the end, its all about convenience for its guests. The battle continues with local municipalities and their continued desire to raise the aesthetics of their community to focus more on sit down restaurants. Per the article:
Digital sales represented 41.6 percent of the business last quarter, which amounts to $811 million, of which 20 percent owes to delivery. Chipotle’s full-year 2021 digital sales of $3.4 billion was nearly three-and-half times what it was pre-COVID.
In Alpharetta, Georgia on Old Milton Highway at North American Properties mixed used development, Avalon, the city fought hard to keep Atlanta' founded Chik fil A from opening a drive thru, citing similar challenges. Chik Fil A and the developer ultimately prevailed and the City approved an orientation that did not flow traffic into the road and was an elevated design to
The biggest question is, how can we make everyone happy? Perhaps the best position for any drive thru oriented restaurants is to be on high traffic roads in commercial zones, areas with industrial and office versus closer to the residential density.
want to know what we know? Contact us today at 404-436-1045 or visit www.terraalma.com to sign up for a our newsletter