Soon the town of Breckenridge will have an official ban on drive-thrus, barring them from existing in town limits. 

At a May 28 meeting, Breckenridge Town Council unanimously approved an ordinance for the ban on a first reading. If passed on the next reading, which will likely be at an upcoming meeting, “vehicle-oriented drive-through developments” would be prohibited in Breckenridge. 

Planning manager Chris Kulick presented the concept to council members and explained it is something that has been discussed for years. Breckenridge has had prohibitions on drive-thrus in certain areas of town, as laid out in its town code, for the past few years, and staff members now want a full ban.

Staffers brought the proposal to council after reviewing and looking at updating town code, Kulick said. They considered this to be low hanging fruit, especially where the town hasn’t really seen any demand for a drive-thru in recent years.

“Looking at some of the things that have been very important to our community over the last decade, they are traffic congestion mitigation and environmental sustainability,” Kulick said to council members as he walked them through the reasoning behind the proposal.

He said the ban would be consistent with what the town has laid out in its comprehensive and sustainability plans. 

“It’s well noted that there are many negative impacts associated with drive-thru operations, including traffic congestion from vehicles overflowing from private property into public right of ways and excessive amounts of emissions,” Kulick said, adding that there can also be impacts related to water quality degradation with drive-thrus. 

Staff also cited an aspect of the town’s 2008 comprehensive plan, which outlines the want to promote small-town characteristics and maintain the legacy as a “mining boomtown” and argued that drive-thrus could go against that. 

Aside from sprucing up town code, a proposed ban came up as concerns were raised about the upcoming seven-parcel East Peak 8/Gold Rush Lot development, according to Kulick. 

Residents have worries about the development’s impacts on traffic congestion in different areas in town. A major area of concern was identified near Park Avenue and Airport Road. Kulick told council that these two roads are really some of the only areas of town where a drive-thru could fit. Kulick explained introducing the ban is a preventative action to ensure nothing else is introduced.

Kulick said regulating drive-thru developments has been a national conversation, too.

Minneapolis was one of the first major U.S. cities to prohibit the development of new drive-thrus after it introduced a ban in 2019. This July, Salt Lake City banned all new drive-thru developments in one of its popular business districts, the Sugar House Neighborhood.

Golden, Colorado also began talking about introducing a similar ban this past summer, a discussion that came at the request of its council.

According to Denver Post reporting, Golden started toying with the idea after witnessing a Starbucks drive-thru get consistently overwhelmed at the height of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The long lines from the drive-thru impacted a nearby traffic circle, causing an issue that took the city six months to resolve.

Council was supportive of this ban, especially after hearing input from the town’s attorney, Kirsten Crawford that this ban would support Town Council’s want to have “more boots, less cars” in town.