WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday meeting will weigh a 45-day ban on the approval of new drive-thrus.
The ban will need ⅘ approval, meaning six of the seven council members will need to vote yes in order for it to pass.
If passed, the creation of new drive-thrus at more than 500 properties in districts zoned as Visitor Commercial, Neighborhood Shopping Center, Neighborhood Commercial and Thoroughfare Commercial will be banned.
The meeting—the council’s first of 2020—will start at 4:30 p.m. The drive-thru ban will be discussed in the late session, which starts at 6:30 p.m.
The adoption of the temporary ban requires the council to declare that there is a “current and immediate threat to public health, safety or welfare,” according to staff.
The council could extend the ban to 10 months and 15 days following the 45-day moratorium. That would again require ⅘ approval and a written report from the council describing the progress made to solve the city’s issues with drive-thrus.
The proposed ban comes 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.
City Councilman Francisco “Paco” Estrada at the council’s final meeting of 2019 asked staff to look into a possible ban on drive-thrus.
To see the complete council agenda, click HERE.
