Sentinel staff report–
A four-member majority on the Citrus Heights City Council on Thursday spoke out against a proposed five-year moratorium on new drive-thru restaurants, saying such a move isn’t needed and would send the wrong message to the business community.
Vice Mayor Tim Schaefer had initially brought up the possibility of a moratorium in January, saying he had heard complaints from constituents about an increasing number of fast food restaurants in Citrus Heights — with personal concern that the city was “going a little over the top” on drive-thru’s.
Particular concern had arisen after a new Raising Cane’s drive-thru opened on Greenback Lane, resulting in long lines of traffic. Long lines were also initially seen outside a new Rally’s burger restaurant on Auburn Boulevard.
Schaefer’s proposal in January won the support of two other council members for bringing the item back as a “discussion item,” which was held during an April 14 meeting following a staff report about drive-thru’s and quick service restaurants in the city.
The staff report showed a total of 94 quick-service restaurants in Citrus Heights, with about half of those having drive-thru’s. A comparison chart with neighboring cities showed that Citrus Heights quick-serve restaurants outperform those in neighboring cities in per-restaurant sales tax revenue generated, with the average being close to $23,000 in annual sales tax generated per location, compared with $15-20,000 in other parts of the county and Roseville.
Five options presented to the council for regulating drive-thru’s included maintaining the status quo, adopting more stringent design and operating requirements, restricting drive-thru’s to only be allowed in certain areas of the city, enacting a moratorium, or enacting a full ban.
In comments made during the meeting, most council members spoke in favor of keeping regulations as-is, although some mention of minor modifications to address circulation and location was brought up.
Councilwoman Jeannie Bruins said she agreed there was an initial problem with long lines of traffic outside Raising Canes, but said that has dissipated over time and cautioned the council to “not over-react” to temporary problems. She also advocated for maintaining a business-friendly reputation for the city and said she is generally in favor of less regulation rather than more.
Councilman Bret Daniels referenced the sales tax revenue generated by such businesses and said: “the last thing I want to do is squelch some developer’s idea about doing something that is obviously beneficial to the city.” He also questioned whether there was a problem with drive-thru’s at all.
“I don’t know that we have a problem, I don’t know that we need a solution, but if we do, lets be very careful and definitely not signal to the business world that you might want to not buy property in Citrus Heights because they just might end up changing how they let you develop it,” said Daniels.
Councilman Steve Miller also noted problems with extended lines at other businesses not related to food, citing recent lines at Costco’s gas station, but noted the problems have been temporary. “We can’t be talking about being a business friendly city and then talking about moratoriums on how they conduct their business,” he said.
Mayor Porsche Middleton said she was concerned about mandating more policy for area businesses, saying she would be “reluctant to have the city get really down to the nuts and bolts and telling business how and where they should be operating.”
“We as a city, as a council, know what it’s like to get unfunded mandates from the state,” said Middleton. “We know what it’s like to have people telling us what to do, and for us to go back and do the same thing to our businesses makes us no better, in my opinion.”
From last month: Citrus Heights council to consider formal opposition to state mandates
The city’s vice mayor made brief remarks during the meeting, calling the problem “frustrating” and reiterating that he brought the topic forward due to complaints he had heard from residents about the proliferation of fast food restaurants and felt he had a responsibility to bring the matter before the council to discuss.
Miller also said he’d seen complaints online, but added that he had only received one email on the topic.
“I did see complaints about traffic on social media, but officially, for the record, I only got one email, and they were against the moratorium,” said Miller. “I’ve only heard from one citizen directly, and so, I think it’s much to do about nothing.”
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