One open-records request later, In-N-Out’s Brighton plans revealed

BRIGHTON — Irvine, California-based burger chain In-N-Out is moving forward with a Brighton location, according to information obtained by BizWest — confirmation that required a Colorado Open Records Act request.

BizWest reported in September that a map of development-review projects on the city’s website indicated that In-N-Out planned to locate at 2008 Prairie Center Parkway, an address that has since been changed to 3860 Eagle Blvd. The restaurant would be in the Prairie Center development along Interstate 76.

Brighton officials declined to comment at the time on the plans, informing BizWest that any review of development documents required a Colorado Open Records Request, an unusual requirement for municipalities along the Front Range, with many — including Boulder, Fort Collins and Greeley — publishing such documents in searchable databases online.

Brighton’s requirement for a CORA request for planning documents doesn’t appear to be limited to In-N-Out.

BizWest submitted a CORA request for certain documents and emails on the In-N-Out project, for which the publication was charged $120.

The filings include a project statement submitted to city planners, revealing that the restaurant will encompass 3,860 square feet, with onsite queuing for 30 cars and onsite parking for 53 vehicles. The restaurant will operate seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., Sundays through Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The restaurant will employ 10 to 12 workers for each of three shifts, according to the document.

“Construction for the restaurant will be done in a single phase and take approximately six months, with a typical progression of construction activities,” the document states. “These activities, some of which would run concurrently, include site preparation and limited grading of about four to six weeks, building construction of about four months, paving and striping of about three weeks, and landscaping of about two weeks.”

In-N-Out locations have generated traffic backups at other sites in Colorado, and the restaurant intends to partially address that with a system to speed drive-through orders.

“Standard store operating procedure dictates that as soon as the drive-through queue reaches the eighth car (where the menu board/order speaker is located) In-N-Out associates are deployed outside to take orders using hand-held ordering tablets,” according to the submittal “The use of these tablets puts orders into the kitchen faster than ordering at the menu board, and, when combined with increased production from the third grill, the result is extremely fast and efficient food production with the shortest possible food wait times, and therefore the shortest possible drive-through vehicle queues.

“Awareness of the queue reaching the eighth car is enhanced with outdoor cameras and indoor monitors. There will be between four and six outdoor cameras on this site, with three or four of them specifically viewing the drive-through lane. These cameras display on multiple monitors located inside the restaurant including at the manager’s office, above the grills, and at both the pay and pickup windows.”

A traffic study conducted for In-N-Out by Galloway & Co. Inc. estimated that the In-N-Out location would generate an average of 1,350 net new site trips daily.

The study noted that the development could accommodate a queue of 30 vehicles in the drive-through lanes, with the capacity to stack 42 vehicles prior to the queue extending to the site parking lot.

“Based on the queue data for two other similar In-N-Outs, the queue will be able to be contained within the drive thru lanes and is not expected to cause any operational issues,” Galloway stated.

In-N-Out did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Brighton location.

In-N-Out’s Brighton location is expected to open in 2025.

on Facebook on LinkedIn