Is it the end of the road for Napa drive-throughs?
According to the organization, the proposed restaurant drive-thru in the Shopping center, which the city council will vote on this Tuesday, would allegedly worsen air quality and increase greenhouse gas emissions. Soscol Square Shopping Center is a planned project in a 7-acre site at the intersection of Soscol Avenue and Gasser Drive.
“For us, in this day and age, especially with the updated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, something like a drive-thru just seems so appallingly, drastically wrong,” Napa Climate NOW! member Bayard Fox said. “And it’s going to leave an incredible, immeasurable impact on our local environment for the next 50 years. This just can’t be a legacy we can maintain.”
The group also clarifies that they have no objections to the proposal but only the drive-through. Another point to mention is that the South Napa Marketplace currently has seven drive-throughs, including famous outlets like In-N-Out Burger and Starbucks. Drive-through orders have risen during the pandemic, with 35% of all restaurant orders in 2020 occurring at drive-throughs compared to 26% in 2019, according to a report from The New York Times. The proposed restaurant may have to reimagine its business plan without the convenience and revenue of a drive-through.