Council Extends Time Frame On Drive-Through Moratorium

On June 28, 2026, the Culver City Council voted to place a 45 Day Moratorium on new drive-through businesses, an “interim urgency ordinance”on the issuance of new building permits for such businesses, and on July 13, they returned to the matter to extend the time frame, and consider more options. 

Feelings in the community have run high on the proposal of a new In-n-Out Burger drive through at the corner of Jefferson and Sawtelle. The neighborhood already has a Jack-in-the Box, a McDonalds, a Del Taco, a Pollo Loco, and a Burger King, all less than a mile from the proposed site, and all of them drive-through eateries. 

The roll of the dice  that allowed Council member Albert Vera, Jr. to remain for the vote at that previous meeting would “carry through” for any other discussion or voting on the matter, according to City Attorney Heather Baker. While two Council members should have been recused, (Vera because his business Sorrento’s Market is in the neighborhood, and Council member Dan O’Brien as he is the President of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce) four were needed for the vote. Chance gave Vera the higher roll, and so he remained on the dais. 

“Extending this moratorium for another ten months and fifteen days,” according to Peer Chako, the acting Planning Manager, “will give us the time needed [to consider specific framing] , while protecting the city’s health and safety.”

Almost a dozen people came to speak from the podium. Paul Hewitt began by supporting the moratorium, reminding the council that the Updated General Plan “spoke to encouraging healthy lifestyles…with these goals, I don’t see any place for future drive-throughs.”  

Many of the speakers were there to thank the council for the moratorium, and ask that it be made permanent. 

Mayor Freddy Puza considered the policy standards of other California cities, noting that “Santa Barbara banned drive-throughs in 1979, [in regard to concerns about air quality] …South Pasadena also does not allow new drive-through with their focus on walkability…Long Beach has gone to strict design standards, rather than a total ban. ” 

The Council’s request sent the moratorium to the Planning Commission, to consider making the moratorium permanent, and voted to extend the the current ban.

Judith Martin-Straw