The End of Drive-Thrus?

First off, a quick note: this week a group of leaders from our region is traveling together to Toronto for our annual InterCity Leadership Visit!  We’ve been given a very warm welcome already, and I very much look forward to learning from Canada’s largest city - North America’s 4th largest. This is a trip all about aspirations and I will share what I learn when we return!

With this trip coming up, I’ve been thinking about aspirations – how can we think bigger and better of our region. It was with this mindset that I learned on Friday of another potential ordinance that will further limit retail business opportunity in Saint Paul. And I want to encourage the City Council - with great energy - to vote this down. The St. Paul Planning Commission approved a resolution last Friday that would restrict future drive-thrus within the city. The resolution prohibits new drive-thrus for fast-food restaurants and coffee shops while creating new requirements for pharmacy and bank drive-thrus, such as requiring walk-up access during the same hours that the drive-thru is open. In T3 and T4 districts, pharmacy and bank drive-thrus would only be allowed in a building that is at least four stories high and 40,000 square feet. Additionally, stacking requirements have been increased to a minimum of six stacking spaces. This resolution now heads to the St. Paul City Council for consideration.

We spoke about this back in June (KTSP article).  And my concern about the proposed ordinance remains. Certainly, some locations are not a good fit for a drive-thru operation due to infrastructure design or maybe traffic patterns. But we don’t need a sweeping policy change to analyze specific projects. From my season at the Port Authority I worked with several companies that walked away from Saint Paul because they simply couldn’t find locations for drive-thru service. Each of these companies wanted to bring jobs, tax base, and expanded services to Saint Paul. They went elsewhere. This broad prohibition will tell retailers – “no thank you,” at a time when we should be doing all we can to welcome, invite, and make room at the table.

If you have an opinion on this issue and would like to take your own action, please let your City Council Member know – they care what you think!

Restricting drive-thrus will harm future businesses and residents alike by removing a key component of modern convenience and efficiency. Drive-thrus have gained popularity because they allow customers to quickly access services without exiting their vehicles, which boosts service speed and increases customer turnover. Eliminating this option for consumers will likely cause them to seek out drive-thrus outside of the city, resulting in a loss of customers for local businesses. It will also take away a business’s ability to continue serving customers while dealing with both workforce shortage and public safety issues.  And the city would forfeit a valuable asset for attracting new businesses who want to bring jobs, tax base, and expanded services to St. Paul.

I feel strongly that, the more we legislate to the least common denominator, the more we invite in “unintended consequences” that actually drive future business opportunity away.

Relevant News Articles

1. https://www.startribune.com/st-paul-drive-thru-drive-thru-drive-through-ban-drive-through-fast-food-minneapolis/601142687
2. https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2024/06/10/st-paul-drive-thru-fast-food-coffee-carbucks-proposal
3. https://www.twincities.com/2024/06/17/st-paul-city-planners-weigh-ban-on-new-restaurant-drive-thrus/
4. https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/st-paul-considers-restricting-new-drive-thrus/
5. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/st-paul-fast-food-drive-thru-proposals/

 See you in the trenches, 

B