The Palm Springs City Council on Thursday rejected a proposal to impose a moratorium on new drive-thru businesses, instead directing staff to study potential regulations as part of an ongoing zoning code update.
Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein proposed temporarily pausing approval of new drive-thrus, citing concerns about sustainability and walkability that might need to be addressed prior to updates that might not happen until 2026.
“We need to make a decision now about whether we want to wait until the zoning code (update) in 2026, which seems logical, or we want to do an ordinance in a shorter term, which is another option,” Bernstein said in setting the stage for the discussion.
The city currently has 27 drive-thru businesses, with three more applications in process — a Chick-Fil-A in The Springs Shopping Center, an In-N-Out at Smoke Tree Village, and a bank on the southeast corner of Ramon Road and Calle Santa Cruz. There has also been discussion of an El Pollo Loco at the northwest corner of Sunrise Way and Tahquitz Canyon Way, and a Starbucks near the proposed In-N-Out off East Palm Canyon Drive.
During deliberation Thursday evening, Bernstein argued a pause would allow time to develop thoughtful policies aligned with the city’s goals. However, other councilmembers expressed concerns about appearing unfriendly to businesses and potentially driving development to neighboring cities.
“Part of my concern in doing this is that we’re back into this business of appearing unfriendly to business,” said Councilmember David Ready, who served as city manager for more than two decades. “That concerns me, because businesses may just go to a neighboring city and they get the tax revenue and we don’t.”
Mayor Pro Tem Naomi Soto called for a more nuanced approach, noting drive-thrus serve various purposes beyond fast food.
“What about pharmacies in the future? These are things where if you’re elderly or you’re very sick, you might not feel comfortable going in,” Soto said.
Planning Director Chris Hadwin emphasized that drive-thrus already require conditional use permits with discretionary approval by the city’s Planning Commission, noting that the process allows “a lot of ability for the Planning Commission to shape what those look like.”
Hadwin also noted existing requirements for screening and traffic analysis, as well as the Commission’s discretion to impose additional conditions.
Ultimately, the Council directed staff to prepare a report on potential drive-thru guidelines and best practices from other cities. The report is expected in three to four months and will inform future zoning code discussions.
“I think with both the last council and this council, I’m hearing a lot of different perspectives,” Hadwin said. “And I think in order to give meaningful guidance to our zone and code team moving forward, it would be good to have that discussion.”
The debate highlighted tensions between economic development priorities and environmental concerns as Palm Springs works to update its zoning code for the first time since 1988.
Bernstein argued drive-thru conflict with goals for sustainability and walkable neighborhoods outlined in the city’s recently adopted general plan.
“We have our whole convention center, we’re talking about a whole plan. And the major point of the convention center that they’re making besides the upgrade of the actual building is they want a walkable connectivity to downtown,” he said.
However, Ready countered that drive-thrus are not necessarily incompatible with those goals.
“I am all in on sustainability and walkability and bikes. We should go 100% that way. But I don’t think these are mutually exclusive,” Ready said.
Potential regulations to be explored include location restrictions, design standards, and exceptions for certain uses like banks or pharmacies.
“I think we owe it to our business community, we owe it to the residents, we owe it to everybody who works so hard on our commissions to have that discussion through zoning,” said Councilmember Grace Garner.
