Protecting Neighborhoods from Drive Thru Noise & Other Impacts

Protecting neighborhoods from drive thru (restaurant, convenience store, etc.) noise and other impacts is one of the many services provided by Community & Environmental Defense Services (CEDS). If you are concerned about a drive-thru proposed near your home then read on for guidance as to whether impacts are likely and, if so, strategy options for safeguarding you and your neighbors. If you need immediate assistance then contact CEDS at help@ceds.org or 410-654-3021.

While the obvious source of drive-thru noise are the outside speakers where orders are placed, an even more disturbing source can be from vehicles waiting in the drive thru queue: loud music, loud conversations, and loud rumbling engines. A drive thru open all night or even until 10 to midnight (when most are trying to sleep) are the most disturbing to nearby residents, especially when the drive thru is near a bedroom.

Exhaust pollution can also be a problem if a drive thru is close to homes or other locations, such as daycares or schools, where children are present. 

So how close is too close with regard to a drive thru and a home?

Generally, a drive thru should be 300- or 400-feet from a home.

By “home” we mean an apartment, townhouse, single-family detached residence or any other place where people sleep or go to for peace and quiet.

Just because a drive thru is proposed within several hundred feet of a home does not necessarily mean a problem will result. A number of measures are available for resolving potential drive thru noise impacts. Keep in mind though that most of these measures will only be effective if they are designed, installed, and maintained properly.

A first step in identifying highly-effective measures is a through noise impact study. The cost of such a study should be borne by the applicant who is seeking the permits and other approvals needed to develop the drive thru.

Among the many professionals in the CEDS network are noise experts, such as acoustical engineers. For a modest fee one of these experts can review the applicant study to assess accuracy and determine whether proposed measures will safeguard nearby residents from undue noise.

CEDS can also assist you in finding existing drive thrus in your area where these measures are in use. CEDS can then help you determine if, in fact, the measures have been installed and maintained in ways that have protected nearby residents from excessive noise. With this CEDS assistance you can:

  • Gather facts that may allay your concerns, or
  • Help you gather the facts needed to convince decision-makers to require more reliable, highly-effective measures, or to
  • Convince decision-makers deny approval because measures proposed by the applicant are ineffective or unreliable.

CEDS and our nationwide network of 200+ Good Attorneys can also assist you in ensuring that any permit or other approval the applicant needs will include enforceable requirements to install and maintain highly-effective noise reduction measures. But if even the best measures will not resolve the impact, then CEDS can assist you in convincing decision-makers to nix the drive thru by denying permits-approvals such as rezoning, conditional use permit, special exception, special use permit, variance, waiver, etc.

For some of the technical background on noise and possible impact reduction measures see the following sections in the CEDS How to Stop Disturbing Noise webpage:

Since a drive thru is frequently part of a proposed gas station-convenience store, see also the CEDS How To Stop Poorly-Planned Gas Stations & Convenience Stores webpage.