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Star council moves to restrict drive‑throughs in downtown code update
Summary
City staff proposed adding language to the Central Business District purpose and standards to discourage — and in a later section to prohibit — drive‑through establishments in the soon‑to‑be‑defined downtown revitalization area; council asked staff to broaden 'restaurant' wording to cover all drive‑throughs and to clarify what counts as an 'incompatible use.'
City staff presented multiple amendments to the Unified Development Code at a Feb. 10 special workshop, including a change to the Central Business District purpose that would steer drive‑through uses away from the downtown core.
Sean, a city staff presenter, told council the proposed purpose statement would say that “drive through restaurants and other land uses that are incompatible to the existing commercial and residential uses are to be discouraged in the central the central downtown area and will be further defined in the future downtown revitalization plan for the area.” He later accepted council direction to replace the word “restaurant” with “drive through” so the discouragement would apply to banks, pharmacies, auto services and similar uses.
Council members probed how the code would define “incompatible uses.” One council member asked, “How do you define incompatible uses?” and members suggested concrete characteristics — including noise, lights and other audible or visual disturbances — as examples that could be written into the code to make the standard predictable for applicants and staff.
The staff presentation included two related code locations: a purpose statement that sets expectations for the CBD and a separate standard that would say drive‑through establishments “shall not be permitted” within the designated downtown revitalization plan area. Sean said the precise geographic area will be clarified in the forthcoming downtown revitalization plan; councilmembers asked staff to refer back to the CBD definition or to define the subarea explicitly in the amendment package.
Next steps: staff will revise the wording to change the phrasing from “restaurants” to “drive through” and return with a map or a clearer cross‑reference to the CBD boundaries when the downtown revitalization plan is available. No final vote was taken at the workshop stage.
