Despite concerns from many in the community, the Twin Falls City Council has approved a special-use permit for an In-N-Out Burger location at 1965 Blue Lakes Boulevard.
A Twin Falls Planning and Zoning Committee meeting was held on June 25th, 2024, in which In-N-Out Burger proposed their application for a special-use permit for a drive-thru at 1965 Blue Lakes, the current location of Outback Steakhouse. The special-use permit In-N-Out requested would grant the company extended hours of operation and the ability to run the drive-thru the way they want.
The members of the planning and zoning committee expressed their concerns at the meeting and initially felt that the location was inappropriate. The Twin Falls Planning and Zoning committee voted against the application for a special-use permit, in a five to two vote.
According to Jonathon Spendlove, Planning and Zoning Director for Twin Falls, “If there’s a special-use permit that isn’t approved, you can ask for the council to reconsider it. If the council again [says] no, the only option that a private property owner has at that point is [to] go to district court.”
In-N-Out Burger submitted an appeal to the vote and made an application in the form of a letter to the council regarding the appeal they made after the planning and zoning meeting. The letter explained why the appeal should be approved and why they continue to think that an In-N-Out Burger location would be valuable in the area they applied for.
On September 16th, a follow-up meeting was held by the Twin Falls City Council to revisit the application from In-N-Out for a special-use permit.
Engineers from In-N-Out Burger presented maps and plans of what they would do to manage traffic as well as more information into the finer details of the property. These details were not present at the initial planning and zoning meeting in June.
Engineers and managers from In-N-Out presented research and surveys that had been done on other In-N-Out locations in similarly populated areas. These areas included Case Grande, AZ, Prescott, AZ, and Logan, UT. The surveys were conducted regarding the queue lines at those locations during common lunch and dinner rush times. In-N-Out used this information to further support their argument that an In-N-Out Burger location would not be a problem on Blue Lakes during normal operational hours.
The City Council had a different view on the subject from the zoning and planning committee. They felt that normal operational hours for the presented location would not be detrimental to the public. The meeting led to a five-to-one vote of approval, with one abstention.
“We’re currently in the initial stages of development for our future location at 1965 Blue Lakes Boulevard in Twin Falls, Idaho, and there’s still quite a bit of work to be done before we can begin construction,” said Mike Abbate, the Vice President of store development at In-N-Out.
In-N-Out Burger, in order to start construction, requires building or demolition permits because the special-use permit does not grant them the ability to do anything with the property. A request for building permits requires more effort from In-N-Out. In-N-Out has to provide in-depth plans and blueprints of what the location would look like. This includes dimensions for everything on the property, from building foundations to landscaping plans.
All of the blueprints must be approved by the fire marshall, the engineering department, the building department, and the zoning department in order for building permits to be granted.
Abbate stated, “Once we break ground on a new location, it usually takes us eight to nine months to build a restaurant and open it for business. Because of the amount of construction that still needs to take place, it isn’t yet possible to nail down a precise opening date.”
In-N-Out still has much work to do in order to open a restaurant in Twin Falls. The company is, without a doubt, very interested in a Twin Falls location. In-N-Out has not considered opening a Twin Falls location anywhere else in town.
The Twin Falls City Council understands that the grand opening of the restaurant will be an issue, and there are measures that will be taken to accommodate this event. The city of Twin Falls will consider this a special event, so precautions will be taken, which includes the presence of the police and fire department to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
