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Council approves Chipotle ‘digital lane’ at Dela Bisspo, removes cone restriction
Summary
The council approved a 2,366‑square‑foot Chipotle with an online‑orders pickup lane at 31787 Dela Bisspo Street, voting to accept staff recommendations but striking a planning commission condition prohibiting traffic delineators (cones); vote was unanimous.
The San Juan Capistrano City Council voted unanimously Oct. 21 to approve entitlements for a Chipotle Mexican Grill at 31787 Dela Bisspo Street after amending the planning commission’s supplemental conditions.
Staff described the project as a 2,366‑square‑foot single‑story Chipotle on a 0.29‑acre pad at the northeast corner of a 1.68‑acre parcel that currently contains an In‑N‑Out. The proposal includes a digital pickup lane intended for online orders (no on‑site ordering or cash transactions at the pickup window), an outdoor dining area, signage, and 11 new parking spaces (a net gain of 10 spaces to meet the city requirement of 72 shared parking spaces for the site).
The project’s traffic analysis forecasts about 227 daily trips, a reduction from the 484 daily trips that had been assumed for a previously entitled 4,800‑square‑foot sit‑down restaurant on the same pad. Staff said the city’s traffic engineer reviewed and accepted the analysis and that the project qualified for a CEQA Class 32 infill exemption.
Council members debated conditions the planning commission recommended. One supplemental condition (number 20) would have assigned responsibility to the property owner to prohibit traffic delineators (cones) that could impede circulation; another (number 47) would add wayfinding signs to guide exiting traffic. After discussion about enforcement and practical traffic management, Councilmember Hart moved to approve staff’s recommendation but strike condition 20; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Chipotle representatives said the express pickup lane model has been used elsewhere and that staff would direct drivers who arrive without an order to leave the lane and place orders inside. "If somebody arrives at the window without an order, they're told, they're sorry that they can't place an order at that place. They have to go back out," said Paul Growe, Chipotle design manager.
The approval adopts architectural control, the conditional/discretionary permits for the drive‑through/pickup lane, and a sign program with the planning commission’s conditions except for the stricken cone prohibition. The council directed staff to ensure the remaining conditions are implemented and to monitor operational impacts once the business opens.
