By Megan Wehring
KYLE — But first, coffee. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Kyle City Council approved construction for Dutch Bros Coffee facility along the east side of Interstate Highway 35, just north of Kohler’s Crossing. Additional parking spaces to accommodate the drive-thru and pick-up only business model were also approved.
“Coffee rules, especially early in the morning,” Council member Michael Tobias said after reading one of his favorite words on the meeting agenda.
The future Dutch Bros Coffee will be located at 20325 I-35 between Firestone Tires and Taco Bell. Lowe’s Home Improvement is to the east of the site. The facility is solely designated for drive-thru traffic and a walk-up window for pick-up orders only. Dine-in is not part of the business model.
Kyle’s parking code is designed around dine-in customers to require a minimum of one parking space per four customer seats, with a maximum of one-and-a-half times this number for a maximum parking allowance. This would not apply to the Dutch Bros Coffee applicant, according to Howard Koontz, director of planning and community development for Kyle.
“They’ve come forward with this special expectation request for them to be able to build the site with the number of parking spaces that is listed,” Koontz said. “Those would solely be for the benefit of the staff that work there and the occasional patron that would walk up to the window.”
Upon the city council’s approval, the business plans to install seven parking spaces, allowing four spaces for employees and three for customers.
Council member Robert Rizo said residents and visitors can enjoy their coffee when traveling to surrounding cities.
“We are a commuting city,” Rizo said. “I see that as a great opportunity for them to be able to stop by and grab their coffee on their way to work. I think it’s a great idea to have another coffeehouse there to keep them from having to commute over the bridge to get into Austin quickly.”
