Chipotle already has an East Dallas location on Abrams Road, but may have another on Garland Road soon. (Photo by Brittany Nunn)

Garland Road is the street to beat right now, with its lower-than-Greenville average rents drawing independent businesses like Lounge Here and Smokey Rose, while its highway status is also attracts major chains like the new Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s.

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Now Chipotle is looking to get in on the action, and is considering the vacant parking lot at the corner of Beachview and Garland, assuming it can get approval to serve liquor. “Per our request, Councilman [Mark] Clayton remanded our case back the the City Plan Commission in order for us to apply for a specific use permit for alcohol sales as required by code,” says Robert Reeves of  Robert Reeves & Associates, Inc. , the consultant who is representing the property owner.

The parking lot on the left may soon be a restaurant with liquor sales, while the office building will soon be a Panera. (Photo from Google Maps)

The parking lot on the left may soon be a Chipotle with liquor, while the office building’s future remains unclear. (Photo from Google Maps)

As many will remember, that same owner tried to bring a Panera to the property next door, a defunct medical office on the other side of Beachview, but the bakery chain would only build if it could have a drive-thru. Clayton opposed that request, citing the Garland Road Vision, a document created in 2010 to guide development in the neighborhood, which suggests limiting drive-thrus on the already-congested roadway. The drive-thru at the new Chick-fil-A was approved thanks to the same zoning that allowed for the Sonic next door.

“I’m supportive of [Chipotle] because it doesn’t have a drive-thru,” Clayton says of this new plan.

Reeves says Chipotle is interested in the parking-lot side of the property because it is far enough away from White Rock Community Church to be approved for liquor sales. The site is part of a “Dry Overlay” leftover from the strict liquor laws that existed when Dallas was dry. But Reeves points out that the neighborhood today is far from dry with Urban Vines Wine Bistro located directly next door.

“Everything in that neighborhood is wet except for these seven lots,” Reeves says.

The office-building side of the property is within 300 feet of the church, meaning no liquor-based businesses can open there. “We don’t have a use on the office site yet,” Reeves says.