Commerce Municipal Code Div. 10 Drive-Through Facilities

The purpose of this Division 10 is to ensure that drive-through facilities do not result in adverse impacts on adjacent properties and residents or on surrounding neighborhoods due to customer and employee parking demand, traffic generation, noise, light, litter, or cumulative impact of such demands in one area, consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the general plan.

(Ord. 544 § 1(part), 2000).

A. Drive-through facilities may be permitted only with approval of a conditional use permit. The use shall comply with the property development standards of the underlying district, as well as the provisions of this Division 10.

B. The following standards shall apply:

1. When located on a site adjacent to or separated by an alley from any residentially zoned property, a drive-through facility shall not operate between the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m.

2. The minimum lot size of any drive-through facility shall be twenty thousand square feet.

3. Drive-through facilities shall have two-way driveways.

4. Minimum queuing distances shall be provided as illustrated in Figure 19.31.350-1.

5. A parking and vehicular circulation plan encompassing adjoining streets and alleys shall be submitted for review and approval by the director of public services prior to approval of a conditional use permit.

6. A minimum of one outdoor trash receptacle shall be provided on-site adjacent to each driveway exit. At least one additional on-site outdoor trash receptacle shall be provided for every ten required parking spaces.

7. Employees shall collect on-site and off-site litter including food wrappers, containers, and packaging from restaurant products generated by customers within a radius of three hundred feet of the property at least once per business day.

8. No noise-generating compressors or other such equipment shall be placed on or near any property line adjoining any residential district or any property used for residential purposes.

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9. Drive-up or drive-through speaker systems shall emit no more than fifty decibels four feet between the vehicle and the speaker and shall not be audible above the daytime ambient noise levels beyond the property boundaries. The system shall be designed to compensate for ambient noise levels in the immediate area and shall not be located within thirty feet of any residential district or any property used for residential uses.

10. On any lot where a drive aisle or driveway is located such that vehicle headlights will shine onto an adjacent property zoned for residential use, a screen wall shall be provided to the satisfaction of the community development director.

(Ord. 544 § 1(part), 2000).