WATSONVILLE—Drive-thrus got the green light at Tuesday night’s Watsonville City Council meeting.
By a 5-2 vote the council rejected a 45-day ban on new drive-thrus, stating there is no current and immediate threat to public health, safety or welfare and that their approval should be determined on a “case-to-case” basis.
Mayor Rebecca Garcia and councilman Francisco “Paco” Estrada voted for the ban.
“I have a very different perspective from councilmembers that say there is no urgency, I just couldn’t believe that,” Garcia said. “We are in a crisis, and it’s a crisis that we have to recognize. We have to do everything we must to protect our Mother Earth.”
The ban would have affected roughly 500 properties in the Neighborhood Shopping Center, Neighborhood Commercial and Thoroughfare Commercial districts.
City staff, however, said the already permitted drive-thrus at 975-1075 Main St. and 1992 Main St.—the latter of which will be a Starbucks—would not have been affected.
City Manager Matt Huffaker said there are 16 “fast food” drive-thrus but was unsure about the total number of drive-thrus in city limits.
The council had doubts whether the planning department would be able to construct a well-thought-out permanent ban in 45 days, a deadline that could have been extended to 10 months and 15 days with council approval. Huffaker said those doubts were legitimate, as the department is busy with several large projects.
“I can’t commit to all of the research being done in a 45-day period, but what I can commit to is bringing back a process to the council to consider,” Huffaker said.
The proposed ban came a month after the Planning Commission surprisingly turned down a special use permit for a proposed business park at Main Street and Auto Center Drive.
Boos Development Group, Inc.—representing Santa Cruz Seaside Company—in early December was seeking the permit so that it could construct two drive-thrus alongside roughly 20,000 square feet of new commercial space on the 3.05-acre site at 975-1075 Main Street, the former home of Mi Ranchito Supermercado and Taqueria Mundial.
Both drive-thrus met the city’s regulations but the commissioners were opposed to adding another drive-thru to a city that already struggles with obesity and pedestrian/cyclist safety.
Estrada at the council’s final meeting of 2019 asked staff to look into a possible ban on drive-thrus.
