San Gabriel Valley : South Pasadena Bars Fast-Food Eateries

There will be no new drive-through restaurants and takeout eateries in South Pasadena in the immediate future.

Citing escalating traffic problems and fears that such businesses will erode the community’s small-town character, the City Council has imposed a 45-day ban on fast-food restaurants until the completion of a new General Plan, which is expected to limit the number and locations of such establishments.

The council voted last week to impose the emergency moratorium, but city Planning Director Bill Campbell said Monday that the ban to be extended an extra 10 months and 15 days to allow for completion of the General Plan and an environmental analysis.

The ban comes on the heels of a Nov. 1 council decision to put a lid on plans for a Jack in the Box drive-through restaurant at Fair Oaks Avenue and State Street, after public outcry over the proposal. The city has one drive-through McDonald’s and about two dozen takeout businesses.

Councilman Amedee Richards said that more fast-food places along Fair Oaks Avenue could conflict with city plans for a street-based alternative to the proposed Long Beach Freeway extension, which threatens to cut through the city. The “low-build” plan calls for Fair Oaks to become a fast-flowing street, but traffic from more eateries could make that impossible.