Board denies drive-through special-exception request for proposed Riverbank branch at St. Louis and Joachim

The Mobile City Board of Adjustment denied a special-exception request to permit a drive-through at a proposed Riverbank & Trust location at the corner of St. Louis Street and Joachim Avenue in downtown Mobile.

Casey Pipes, attorney for the applicant, said the bank is a permitted use in the downtown district but that drive-through service requires a special exception. Pipes described design work and neighborhood outreach undertaken after an earlier hearing and said the applicant limited the proposal to a single, low-volume drive-through lane and provided conceptual renderings and pedestrian-oriented design: “What we're proposing…is a high quality custom development for a bank…we don't believe there'd be any substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property owners,” Pipes said.

Riverbank regional president Doug Thomas said the bank had invested time and money in designs and outreach and characterized the proposed branch as a low-traffic complement to downtown development. Supporters from the neighborhood — including residents and nearby business owners — testified in favor of the design and said the bank would be a positive addition.

Opponents, including longtime downtown property owners and urban-design advocates, urged denial. Pete Burns, who owns property downtown, urged the board to follow the city’s adopted downtown plan and keep the area pedestrian-first: “Drive throughs are the antithesis…A walk up bank, you walk up. You see your neighbors,” Burns said. Other opponents pointed to national examples (Portland) and argued drive-through lanes can later be converted to more intensive curb-cut uses such as fast-food service.

After deliberation, the board voted to deny the special exception. The board had denied an earlier iteration of the same request months earlier; multiple public speakers reiterated objections rooted in the downtown map and walkability goals.

Why it matters: The decision reaffirms the downtown design standards the board and community have invoked to promote walkability and limit curb cuts and drive-throughs on St. Louis Street. Local advocates said denying the drive-through preserves pedestrian priorities in the downtown district.

What happens next: The applicant may redesign the proposal without a drive-through or seek other sites; the bank indicated it has invested in renderings and outreach but indicated the drive-through is “critical to this bank developing at this site.”