The City of Bee Cave Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 7 approved a specific-use permit allowing a food-and-beverage mobile pickup window with vehicle queuing for a Chipotle on a corner of Lot 1B, Ladera Ridge.

The permit was approved with three conditions: the SUP applies only while the tenant is Chipotle; the SUP will be limited to the corner lot at Ladera and State Highway 620 after a required replat; and no order/drive-through speaker boards will be allowed in the drive-thru lane. Commissioner Sabrakhos moved the approval; Vice Chair Wakefield seconded. The commission voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Why it matters: the permit lets a national fast-casual operator use app-based mobile pickup and an on-site pickup window without a traditional order board. Commissioners and staff said the condition set and the replat requirement are intended to limit traffic impacts and to ensure the SUP does not automatically extend to the remainder of the larger mixed-use parcel.

City staff explained the zoning and review process before the vote. A staff presentation said the property is currently zoned Community Mixed Use and that, under Unified Development Code (UDC) Section 3.3.5, food-and-beverage services with drive-thru or pickup require a specific-use permit. Staff noted the commission could evaluate the pickup window using a conceptual exhibit rather than a fully engineered site plan because the city recently updated the UDC to allow the city manager to waive a fully engineered site plan in certain SUP cases.

Bill Walters, the applicant and developer, told the commission he has a signed lease with Chipotle and described the proposal as an app-driven pickup window rather than a traditional drive-through with an ordering speaker. "This is really not a drive through window. It is a pickup window with a driveway," Walters said, and he said he would support conditions that keep the SUP tied to Chipotle and to the specific corner lot.

Commissioners discussed traffic stacking and circulation. Vice Chair Wakefield and other commissioners said they prefer to avoid the noise and stacking associated with speaker/order boxes and indicated support for language that would prevent an order board in the drive-thru lane unless the applicant returned for another SUP. Commissioners also discussed whether the parcel should be rezoned from Community Mixed Use to a commercial zoning district; staff said a rezone or replat might be pursued separately, and the commission agreed not to condition the SUP on an immediate rezone so the applicant could obtain the SUP first and resolve plat/zoning details concurrently.

Staff and the applicant said additional approvals remain required. City staff said a replat and a site-development application with civil engineering will be required before construction; the SUP approval allows the use but does not substitute for those later approvals.

The public hearing was opened and closed with no public speakers signed up. The commission adjourned at about 6:35 p.m.

Votes at a glance: motion to approve SUP with conditions (tenant limited to Chipotle; SUP limited to corner lot after replat; no order boards in the drive-thru lane) — moved by Commissioner Sabrakhos; seconded by Vice Chair Wakefield; outcome: approved (unanimous).