Exclusive | Culver City scores major victory in its war on fast food restaurants as monster feature is banished

A progressive California city told In-N-Out Burger to keep driving Monday night after residents branded drive-thrus “pollution monsters.”After more than an hour of heated testimony, the Culver City Council voted 4-0 to extend an emergency moratorium on new drive-thru restaurants for another 10 months and 15 days.The extension blocks the city from approving any new projects, including the proposed In-N-Out on Sepulveda Boulevard, while planners draft a ordinance that could permanently prohibit them citywide.Councilmember Dan O’Brien recused himself from the vote.The controversy centers on what would become Culver City’s first new drive-thru restaurant since 1997.In-N-Out wants to build a 3,890-square-foot restaurant.

The proposal includes seating for 128 customers, a 61-space parking lot and a drive-thru lane designed to hold 26 vehicles.The restaurant would operate from 10:30 a.m.

until 1 a.m.Sunday through Thursday and until 1:30 a.m.

on Fridays and Saturdays.The company has pitched the project as an economic boost, promising well-paying jobs, additional sales tax revenue and a landscaped development that would serve nearby residents.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story It has also argued the restaurant would provide a late-night dining option for police officers, healthcare workers and other overnight employees.Residents painted a dire picture of what another drive-thru would bring.Speaker after speaker said the proposed In-N-Out would bring more traffic, longer lines of idling vehicles, dirtier air and additional safety risks for pedestrians, particularly children walking to nearby schools.“We don’t need them,” resident Theresa Klemick told councilmembers, saying the proposed restaurant would have “impacted that neighborhood so...