Lick your lips and look, perhaps wish, for an In-N-Out Burger location in northern Colorado along the busy Interstate 25 corridor.
Plans are in the early stage — conceptual — for a proposed 3,860-square-foot restaurant in the planned Ladera Subdivision, according to planning records in the town of Timnath.
The property owner, Connell LLC, of Fort Collins, is among the entities listed in conceptual documents filed with the growing town’s planning department.
Connell owns the 240-acre site, where a “gravel pit is in the final mining phases” with plans to become a lake after reclamation, and eventual mixed-use development around the lake to include residences, entertainment spots, offices and restaurants, according to development planners.
In-N-Out Burger, a popular California-based fast-food chain, is rapidly expanding in Colorado, and newly opened restaurants have experienced long lines at the counters and hours-long waits at drive-up windows. The two first Colorado stores, Colorado Springs and Aurora, opened in April 2020, and the drive-up line in Aurora stretched into a reported 14-hour wait for some.
In April the first In-N-Out Burger location in Denver opened in the Central Park neighborhood, just off of Interstate 70. Other Colorado locations include Lakewood, Lone Tree and Thornton. A restaurant is planned and in development, at 1450 Fall River Drive along U.S. 34, in Loveland. A hearing notice for the Timnath proposal is not yet available.
“This is just a conceptual plan, not a formal submittal,” said Kevin Koelbel, a senior planner with Timnath, in an email. “Concept Reviews are high-level, conceptual reviews that allow applicants/developers the opportunity to discuss ideas and potential issues with staff before submitting a formal Development Application.”
Still, the Project Design Criteria Description for the Timnath location includes “associated parking” and the typically busy “drive-thru lane.”