In-N-Out Burger Is Out of Buellton Before It Ever Got In

City Council Votes Against Proposed Drive-Thru over Traffic Concerns

In October, the city’s planning staff had approved plans to raze the old movie theater that stood at the McMurray Road site and allow a new In-N-Out drive-thru to go up in its place. | Credit: Caitlin Kelley

In-N-Out cheeseburgers may be the next best thing since sliced bread, but the Buellton City Council voted 3-1 last week to save city streets from the throngs of hungry out-of-town motorists that they said a proposed new In-N-Out franchise would bring. The vote marks a major about-face by Buellton’s City Hall; in October, the city’s planning staff had approved plans to raze the old movie theater that stood at the McMurray Road site and allow the new drive-thru to go up in its place. That approval went to the council on appeal, and upon closer inspection, Caltrans and several other planning agencies concluded that the new In-N-Out would draw far more passing motorists than the off-ramps and on-ramps could accommodate without causing significant congestion issues.