St. Paul is considering banning new drive-thrus to improve pedestrian safety, reduce noise and prevent car gas emissions. 

The St. Paul Planning Commission discussed the potential ban during their meeting on Sept. 13. Following a public hearing in early November, the St. Paul City Council will vote on whether to adopt the change, St. Paul Planning Manager Bill Dermody said. 

“Drive-thrus have been an issue going back more than a decade in St. Paul,” Dermody said.

The proposed ban would only prevent new drive-thru restaurants from being built in the city, Dermody said. Businesses with existing drive-thrus would be allowed to remain.

St. Paul is not the first city to issue concerns about drive-thrus. Minneapolis banned the construction of new drive-thrus five years ago, Minneapolis Manager of Code Development Jason Wittenberg said.

With few complaints from residents and businesses, Minneapolis has no plans to reverse the prohibition anytime soon, Wittenberg said.

“The issues we identified five years ago are as prevalent as they were when the ordinance change was adopted,” Wittenberg said.

If the ban goes forward, the Twin Cities would be the largest metropolitan area in the country to ban drive-thrus. 

Wittenberg said prior to the city banning, all new drive-thrus would create concerns about light, noise and traffic impacts. 

“(Drive-thrus) weren’t something that people were really looking forward to having as a neighbor,” Wittenberg said.

Most plans for drive-thrus are potentially contrary to the safe pedestrian designs the city tries to prioritize, Dermody said. 

“Most of the drive-thrus in (St. Paul) right now would not abide by the proposed regulations,” Dermody said.

Drive-thrus require drive-ways for cars to reach the restaurant, which can make restaurants difficult to safely walk to, Dermody said. He added if they become overcrowded, the line of cars spills out on the road and blocks sidewalks. 

One of these overcrowded drive-thrus was the Starbucks on the corner of Marshall Avenue and Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, Dermody said. Cars would fill up the driveway, causing others to block sidewalks and spill onto the road, Dermody said. Starbucks later decided to close the drive-thru, solving the problem.

Additionally, banning drive-thrus can decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, Wittenberg said.

“Turning off your car and going into the business does reduce vehicle emissions compared to sitting and idling in a drive-thru,” Wittenberg said. 

Dermody said while the drive-thru will reduce emissions, they are a small part of the city’s overall emissions.

“Driving doesn’t just stop because the drive-thrus go away,” Dermody said.

St. Paul has not announced an exact date for the public hearing on the ban, but it will be sometime in early November, Dermody said.