MERIDIAN, Idaho — Standing room only at Tuesday night’s Meridian City Council meeting as the council heard In-N-Out’s appeal for their Ten Mile location.
In a 5-1 vote, the council decided to deny In-N-Out’s appeal for a location on Ten Mile Rd. The council meeting went late into the night, ending at 10:10 Tuesday night.
WATCH | Neighbors weigh in on Ten Mile In-N-Out, City denies restaurant's appeal
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted to deny this application in April.
“I think the council is going to hear a lot of people, a lot of concern, a lot of anxiety,” said Elwood Kleaver, a Meridian neighbor, before the meeting.
“The last thing we, in my opinion, is another drive thru,” said Steve Elliot, a Meridian resident in the neighboring BainBridge housing development.
Neighbors that Idaho News 6 Meridian Neighborhood Reporter Allie Triepke spoke to at the proposed site shared their concerns about added traffic and late night activity so close to homes.
“They’re a good company, they’re going to [hope to] build a nice facility here, but the traffic and congestion that it’s going to create on just about every part of this development is going to be intrusive,” said Elliot.
At the meeting, council members also pointed out that anticipated congestion and traffic impacts on the surrounding roads – which could be a fire hazard, let alone frustrating for drivers and residents.
The burger chain said their data shows that this location wouldn’t be as impactful as the popular Village at Meridian In-N-Out.
While many were opposed, neighbors in favor also spoke at the meeting.
“I don’t think that we’re gonna have such a problem with this. I think it’s getting a little overblown. I think that we’re turning into a territory of NIMBY-ism. I’m not a big fan personally. I just wanna say that I’m a YIMBY, so ‘yes in my backyard’ and I approved thank you,” said Conrad Brinker to Meridian City Council. Brinker said he is a BainBridge resident in favor of the In-N-Out.
In-N-Out also said that it would close at midnight instead of the original 1 or 1:30 in the morning plan, which still doesn’t sit right with neighbors like Kleaver.
“This is a neighborhood. And the neighborhood is not running around at 12:30, 1 o’clock in the morning. They have all retired for the evening. And if you walk around here after 8:30, 9 o’clock, it gets very quiet,” said Kleaver.
What's next? The council voted to deny the development, but plans to have a future hearing to determine the findings that are applicable based on staffs recommendations.
