City of Rancho Mirage holds special meeting after In-N-Out terminates development agreement

The proposed In-N-Out Burger drive through in Rancho Mirage is still causing contention, even though the fast food chain terminated its agreement with the city last week. A special city council meeting was held today in regards to this. News Channel 3’s Caitlin Thropay has the new developments.

Twelve people brought questions and concerns to Rancho Mirage city councilors, wondering what could happen next as the proposed In-N-Out project seems to hit a dead end.

“In-N-Out may belong some place in the city or maybe not but it doesn’t belong in this particular location,” one person said.

“That shopping center is constructed in such a manner that it can handle all of the traffic that In-N-Out can generate,” said another Rancho Mirage resident.

Plans for the chain's location on Highway 1-11 and Magnesia Falls, right across the street from 'The River' dropped Wednesday amid a lawsuit from a group called 'Save Rancho Mirage.' That group also wants a full environment impact report.

So what's next?

Residents now want to know… Will In-N-Out reapply for the project?

"It’s kind of up to the applicant at this point," Isaiah Hagerman, the Rancho Mirage City Manager said. "They have indicated that they do intend to move forward with an environmental impact report (EIR,)" he added.

Council members did not make any comments or answer any questions during this meeting, however, we spoke with Councilman Ted Weill afterwards.

"I think the city explained the situation that this group has called for an EIR and it appears now that there will be an EIR,” Weill said.

We asked him why an environmental impact report was never conducted to begin with.

“The planning department didn’t feel that an EIR was necessary. This was already a zoned neighborhood shopping center,” Weill said.

Another concern, why Councilman G. Dana Hobart recused himself.

City Attorney Steven Quintanilla addressed this as well.

"Mr. Hobart does not have a conflict of interest," Quintanilla said. "He has disclosed publicly that one of the members of 'Save Rancho Mirage' is Dr. Joel Hirschberg has performed a medical procedure on Mr. Hobart." he added.

The Rancho Mirage City Attorney tells us we are now waiting to see if the developer will actually move forward on an environmental impact report. We are also told that the developers will pay or reimburse the city for the EIR. The result of this EIR will determine the future of this project.

We've been updating you on this story for months now and will continue to track any new developments as they happen.