College Station's rules for how many cars a drive-thru lane must hold have not changed since the city adopted its Unified Development Ordinance in 2003. City planners want to update them, and the first public hearing is tonight.
The Planning and Zoning Commission takes up the proposed amendment at its 6 p.m. meeting Thursday in the City Hall council chambers, 1101 Texas Ave. The City Council is scheduled to make the final decision on Oct. 22, according to the agenda.
What would change
The rule sets a minimum number of off-street queue spaces, each 10 feet wide and 18.5 feet long, for every kind of business with a drive-up window. Under the redlined draft in the commission's packet:
- Banks: teller lanes would need two queue spaces instead of four.
- Oil change shops: two spaces per service bay instead of three.
- Pharmacies: added to the table for the first time, with three spaces at the service window.
- Restaurants: the current standard of four spaces before the order box and three between the box and the pickup window stays. A separate category would be created for pickup-only windows that serve orders placed ahead of time, which would need four spaces.
- Photo labs and self-service car washes: dropped from the table; the report calls them less common drive-thru uses. Automatic car washes, ATMs and dry cleaners keep their current numbers.
The bypass lane rule stays: queues still need a 12-foot lane beside them so drivers can leave the line.
Why staff proposed it
In the agenda report, Joe Allen, a staff planner in transportation and mobility, wrote that drive-thru designs have changed since 2003 and that the update is meant to reduce confusion for developers early in the process. The report says many businesses have added curbside pickup spots, which have absorbed some of the growth in drive-thru demand.
