The Metropolitan King County Council took action today to make it easier for drive-through espresso stands to operate in unincorporated areas of the county. With a unanimous vote, the Council approved an amendment to the county development code that reduces the number of “stacking” spaces required for vehicles lining up to order espresso.

After hearing from several espresso stand operators who had run afoul of the county’s code, and after researching the regulations of other jurisdictions, Councilmember David Irons proposed cutting the number of stacking spaces required at espresso stands. The existing code treats drive-through coffee operations the same as any other drive-through restaurant, requiring space for at least seven vehicles to line up off the public road right-of-way on the way to the drive-up window.

“With the prevalence of outlets available to get your daily latte, it doesn’t make sense to assume cars will line up seven deep to wait for coffee,” Irons said. “Because the region’s coffee culture is a relatively new phenomenon, our development code did not make any allowances for the differences in the way an espresso stand or small restaurant operates. We had to define how an espresso stand is different from other drive-through restaurants in order to bring the code up to date with this evolution of our lifestyle.”

The new code defines an espresso stand as “a restaurant that makes no provision for on-premises consumption of food or drink and whose building floor area is 160 square feet or less.” Under the revised code, such establishments now are required to provide just three stacking spaces (8-by-20-feet) in each lane, if three or more other such establishments exist within a quarter-mile radius. With fewer other espresso stands in the vicinity, the number of stacking spaces required increases up to a maximum of five. The code also gives the Department of Development and Environmental Services some flexibility in modifying the number of stacking spaces, depending on traffic studies and other data.

“I would like to applaud the work of DDES in making this adjustment of the code to fit the real-life circumstances experienced by our small-business owners,” Irons said. “The stacking-space ordinance created a quandary for the county because it made no mention of espresso stands and the much shorter time that vehicles spend waiting in line here than at fast-food outlets. Because of this inflexible code, we’ve had espresso stands subjected to the seven-vehicle stacking requirement, even though the business never had more than three cars lined up at a time. We had owners who were nearly forced out of business because of this unreasonable standard in the code.”

Metropolitan King County Councilmember David Irons represents Council District 12, which encompasses the cities of Issaquah, Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond and most of Sammamish, and the communities of South Cove, Preston, Tiger Mountain, May Valley, Hobart and Ravensdale.

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system at http://mkcclegisearch.metrokc.gov