Overview
- The City Council put a 45-day moratorium in place in early June to stop new drive-thru permits while staff write a draft ordinance to bar new drive-thrus citywide.
- The policy push followed neighborhood opposition to a proposed In-N-Out that would have been Culver City’s first new drive-thru since 1997 and the chain had not filed a formal permit before the moratorium began.
- Local organizers gathered about 950 petition signatures and distributed flyers arguing the proposed drive-thru would increase traffic, idle emissions, and danger for nearby schoolchildren, pedestrians and cyclists.
- City officials and planners say drive-thrus conflict with Culver City’s 2024 general plan goal for more walkable, bikeable streets, while restaurant groups warn a ban could hurt quick-service businesses and limit access for people with disabilities.
- If adopted the ban would apply only to new permits and grandfather in the city’s existing eight or nine drive-thrus; the draft will be reviewed by the planning commission before a final council vote, which will determine whether new proposals can proceed.