In-N-Out eyes former bank building site in Palm Springs for next area restaurant

Years after the idea was first floated but never came to fruition here, owners of the land that contains a shopping center in South Palm Springs hope to finally give the city its first In-N-Out at the site of a former bank building, The Post has learned.

A representative of the landowners of Smoke Tree Village off East Palm Canyon Drive confirmed Wednesday that the site that formerly held a Bank of America building is being considered for the franchise, a beloved West Coast fast-food chain known for its simple menu and iconic hamburgers. Formal plans could be filed with the city next week.

While the company does not comment on its plans to open new locations, the landowners’ representative said the developer of the project would be In-N-Out itself, since every restaurant in the chain is company-owned and operated by the Snyder family. The Snyders founded the franchise in 1948 and maintain strict control over all locations.

In-N-Out has roughly 400 locations. The vast majority of their restaurants are in California, with additional locations in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, and most recently Idaho and Tennessee. If the Palm Springs location is built, it would become the sixth In-N-Out in an area stretching from Cabazon to Indio.

The company had sought to open a location in the city before, but a building at the proposed location at the intersection of East Palm Canyon Drive and Sunrise Way — also a former bank building in Smoke Tree Village — was declared a historical property before plans could be finalized. While In-N-Out could have pressed the issue, company officials elected to back out of their plans in the city instead.

One location where the company did continue to press forward was in Rancho Mirage, where litigation was filed in order to block its construction, but the franchise ultimately prevailed. Its location along Highway 111 off Bob Hope Drive opened in January 2022.

In 2019, a group of residents called Save Rancho Mirage filed a lawsuit against In-N-Out in that city, alleging violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during the early stages of development. 

The lawsuit claimed that the city and In-N-Out didn’t conduct an environmental impact study (EIR) before the City Council approved construction of the project near The River shopping plaza in October 2019. The city and In-N-Out argued that the project was a business in-fill and didn’t require an EIR. 

The lawsuit was dismissed after In-N-Out withdrew from the development agreement in January 2020. A judge ordered the city and In-N-Out to pay the plaintiffs more than $60,000 in legal fees but also prevented them from suing the city again over the environmental guidelines. 

In-N-Out returned to the Rancho Mirage City Council in January 2020 for a second approval, and was again approved in a 4-0 vote. The approval included a zoning amendment that allowed drive-thru restaurants in shopping centers that are 15 acres or larger.

Whether the franchise will face backlash in Palm Springs similar to that expressed recently against a proposed Chick-fil-A location in The Springs shopping center off Ramon Road remains to be seen.

Chick-fil-A has drawn criticism for contributing to anti-LGBTQ causes, while In-N-Out has come under fire due primarily to its political contributions. The hamburger chain has earned praise for actively contributing to anti-human trafficking causes and its labor policies have been lauded for providing competitive wages, offering benefits such as health insurance and paid vacations.

Also at issue for the proposed Palm Springs Chick-fil-A is traffic associated with its drive-thru, currently planned for an area of The Springs where no drive-thru has been before.

At its meeting this evening, the Palm Springs City Council is set to discuss whether a moratorium on drive-thrus should be enacted. That discussion comes after the city’s Planning Commission questioned the impact of the chicken restaurant’s three-lane drive-thru design that could hold roughly 50 vehicles.

Unlike the Chick-fil-A, however, the In-N-Out would utilize a location that previously contained a two-lane drive-thru and is on much more land.

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