The popular fast-food chain has withdrawn its application to build a 3,500-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through lane and outdoor seating on a vacant 1-acre parcel on North Main Street along the border of Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek.
Shortly after In-N-Out submitted its development application in February 2010, the company faced strong opposition from a vocal group of Walnut Creek residents who believed the restaurant would bring traffic, noise and other nuisances to their neighborhood.
Those critics said the plan didn't include enough parking, and they worried that customers would take a shortcut through the narrow side streets behind the site to reach the opposite side of Interstate 680.
To appease opponents, In-N-Out reduced the size of the restaurant and removed eight of the proposed outdoor seats. The revised development plan also moved the building, drive-thru lane, menu board and speaker farther from the houses directly behind the site. But In-N-Out balked at a long list of conditions the city proposed in fall 2011, including steps the company would have to take to prevent customers from parking on residential side streets.
The In-N-Out on Contra Costa Boulevard opened in May 2012 and immediately drew large crowds.
