http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0422drive0422.html

Drive-throughs: Convenience or big nuisance?

Scott Wong The Arizona Republic Apr. 22, 2006 12:00 AM

At a bustling West Valley intersection along Bell Road, you can pull cash from an ATM machine, pick up your prescription drugs, order fish tacos and run your car through the wash, all without leaving the driver's seat.

Drive-through businesses have proliferated across the Valley's sprawling landscape, from fast-food joints and banks to dry cleaners and liquor stores.

The driving force behind them: Americans' insatiable craving for convenience.

"I don't have to get out of my car," says Erica Pennica, waiting to order kid's meals at a Chick-fil-A drive-through in Peoria. "I don't even have to get dressed."

With her 2-year-old son and two other children in her black Kia, the 25-year-old Phoenix woman says she frequently returns library books at the drive-through drop-off and grabs cash from drive-through ATMs. On occasion, she visits a drive-through liquor store, but only for a soda pop.

"It's awesome," Pennica adds. "More places need a drive-though."

Although the exact number of drive-throughs in the country hasn't been documented, three in four fast-food and fast-casual restaurants - such as In-N-Out Burger, Pei Wei Asian Diner and Fazoli's - now offer drive-through conveniences, according to a recent survey by the National Restaurant Association.

Two-thirds of those businesses expect their drive-through sales to account for a larger proportion of business in 2006 as compared with last year.

But today, drive-through services aren't just found at your McDonald's and Taco Bells. The concept has spawned some unusual businesses, from a drive-through prayer booth in Southern California to a drive-through viewing room at a South Carolina mortuary.

Critics, however, say Americans' love affair with cars and the drive-through window is taking its toll on our health and the environment.

Drive-throughs exacerbate traffic congestion, create more pollution as vehicles idle in line, and contribute to the nation's obesity epidemic, says Daniel Glenn, design director for Arizona State University Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family.

"Sure, it's more convenient to live your full life in your automobile," says Glenn, whose downtown Phoenix center advocates denser and greener developments. "But I think there is a loss to ourselves and the community when we spend so many of our waking moments in our cars."

Cities such as Scottsdale and Tempe have enacted ordinances aimed at curbing drive-throughs, recognizing they encourage vehicle use, clog streets and strip-mall parking lots and diminish the appearance of communities.

A way of life

Still, with the Sonoran Desert's stifling summers and the Valley's car-crazed culture, drive-throughs simply have become a way of life for Arizona residents.

The country's first McDonald's drive-through restaurant opened in Sierra Vista, 70 miles southeast of Tucson, in 1975. Customers hankering for a six-pack of Coors Light or a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey have been stopping by Kwik Six Drive Through Liquors in Phoenix for years. And although not a drive-through, the Glass & Garden Drive-In Church in Scottsdale has encouraged parishioners to pull up and tune in to sermons from their cars for the past four decades.

Drugstores such as CVS, Osco Drug and Walgreens have gotten in the act, rolling out 24-hour drive-through pharmacies where customers can pick up prescribed medications from Allegra to Zoloft.

And banks have been banking on their drive-through model for decades. In east Mesa, M&I Bank recently opened a new branch on Baseline Road with two drive-through customer-service windows and an ATM lane. Bank of America launched a site earlier this year with three drive-through lanes at a Glendale strip mall near Loop 101 and 67th Avenue.Meanwhile, many fast-casual and sit-down restaurants are experimenting with new ways to make eating out more convenient.

Some Cheesecake Factory, Chili's Grill & Bar and Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants now provide curbside service, where customers call into the restaurant on their cellphones and employees hand-deliver their to-go orders in the parking lot.

Steve Chucri, president and chief executive of the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, says just a handful of establishments offered curbside takeaway two years ago. But in the cutthroat restaurant industry, diners would be hard pressed to find a casual restaurant without that amenity today, he says.

"Competition is happening on many different fronts, from the value-meal menu to how long it takes to place and complete an order while customers wait in the drive-through," Chucri says. "Whoever does it the best and the fastest is, at the end of the day, the king of the hill."

Tougher rules

But the road to the top has been full of obstacles for Arizona drive-throughs.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors has unanimously backed a plan that nearly triples the impact fees for new fast-food restaurants with drive-throughs. New drive-throughs now will fork over more than $16,000 for transportation improvements, double what sit-down restaurants will have to pay.

Drive-through and drive-in restaurants are banned in downtown Scottsdale. As part of its codes, Glendale requires drive-throughs to provide a canopy or covering to shield its customers and employees from the elements. And business owners in Gilbert must obtain a special permit to open drive-through restaurants, liquor stores and tobacco shops.

With light rail soon to be rumbling through Tempe, the City Council has prohibited drive-through businesses within 800 feet of its nine proposed stations.

"We're primarily trying to get people out of their cars, on their feet and into transit," says Steve Venker, a Tempe city planner.

Stiffer regulations, however, haven't halted construction of drive-throughs, says Phoenix attorney Grady Gammage Jr., a land-use expert who has represented developers for years.

More choices

A third of the Valley's nearly 100 Starbucks Coffee stores now offer drive-through service, a share that is expected to approach 50 percent over the next several years.

But Gammage and other observers point out that drive-throughs mark a dramatic shift for the world's largest coffee retailer, a company that has built its image around sleek designs, plush furniture and soothing tunes.

"The Starbucks phenomenon was all about mingling and mixing and feeling like you were urban," Gammage says. "Now, it's a drive-through like everything else."

Yet just as Starbucks faithfuls are faced with endless choices when it comes to customizing their beverage (Think Grande, no-whip, low-fat Caramel Frappuccino), the Seattle-based company says drive-throughs give their customers yet another way to order and enjoy their drink.

"In certain instances, it's a matter of being a gathering place for the community," says Karlyn Moore, a Starbucks spokeswoman. "In others, it's about providing the kind of convenience and services with speed our customers are looking for."

Having more choices certainly is appealing for seniors who have difficulty getting around and for families with small children.

"With a hectic schedule, it takes a lot to get your kids out of the car, into the restaurant, back in the car and strapped in," says James Wade of Glendale, a stay-at-home dad who cares for his four kids, ages 3 through 9. "A drive-through takes a lot of the strain off."

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