First phase of drive-through ordinance approved
The first phase of a drivethrough ordinance was approved during the city board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The ordinance places stricter scrutiny on whether a business’ drive-through is infringing on the quality of life of the neighboring residents. It will require a business that is adjacent to or neighboring a residence to obtain a special use permit on top of other permits the business may need, according to a staff report prepared by senior planner Ben Rhoads.
The special use permit will require the business to address any issues which may impact the resident’s ability to enjoy their property, according to the staff report. For example, if a resident was impacted by the headlights of approaching vehicles, then the business may be required to put up a screen to block the additional lights and sounds created by the drive-through, the report states.
The ordinance was the city’s second attempt to pass drivethrough regulations.
The original ordinance came about when Taco Jake’s was denied a drive-through by the city’s board of adjustment on Aug. 13, according to an article in the Herald-Leader the same month. The article states the denial was a result of a code violation because the proposed driveway would encroach into five of the required six feet of a green space buffer which would leave a 1.2 foot clearance from the edge of
the property line to the drive-through. The denial led city staff to realize there was not any ordinance or code directly related to drive-throughs, according to an October article in the
Herald-Leader. The proposed ordinance was not written for Taco Jake’s and would not guarantee the restaurant a drive-through, Rhoads said at the time.
The original ordinance helped to define what a drive-through is, and addressed issues such as design standards, the distance allowed for cars to line up at the window and landscaping, according to the article. It went before the planning commission on Oct. 7 and before the board of directors on Oct. 15.
During the ordinance’s second reading on Nov. 5, the board voted to withdraw the ordinance amid citizens’ concerns. During the meeting several citizens spoke out against the ordinance. The most vocal critic was Carla Wasson, whose family owns Wasson Funeral Home, which is located adjacent to Taco Jake’s.
“As it is when Mr. (Jacob) Frese was operating the restaurant when people came around to park behind the restaurant the glare from the headlights in my house was a problem,” Wasson said. “There is nothing to screen it.”
After phase one of the new ordinance was approved Tuesday, Frese, owner of Taco Jake’s, addressed the board and requested that it implement an emergency clause to make the ordinance effective immediately. Frese said he wanted to expedite the 30-day waiting period so he could proceed with a special use permit.
City Administrator Phillip Patterson explained the standard process is 30 days or maybe a little bit longer for the ordinance to take effect. It would not impact Frese’s request for a permit because the permit application must be submitted 30 days before the next planning commission meeting, and after it goes through the planning commission it has to go before the board. By the time the permit reaches the board, the ordinance should be in effect, Patterson said.
“It is my opinion that emergency clauses should be held to an overarching public need to make something immediately effective,” Patterson said.
From the staff’s perspective Patterson said he did not know if there was an overall arching public need to make the ordinance effective immediately. Patterson said in an email the ordinance did not have an emergency clause attached to it.
Frese asked what would cause the ordinance to take longer than 30 days to take effect. Patterson said the ordinance must be printed in the newspaper before the clock starts. Patterson said the newspaper is published weekly and notification of the ordinance probably would not be in until the following Wednesday. The ordinance would become effective 30 days after it is published in the newspaper.
The second phase of the ordinance will address specific drive-through regulations, the staff report states. The ordinance would be similar to the initial ordinance submitted in October, however, additional measures will be added to “address impact mitigation,” according to the staff report. The second phase is undrafted at this point and will go before the planning commission when it is available. Rhoads said in November that he expects it to be within the first quarter of this year.