A popular Mexican-restaurant chain is expected to open in Arnold late this year, but plans for a second location for a car wash business already operating in the city have been withdrawn.
A plan to add a drive-thru window at the city’s lone marijuana dispensary and for a Catholic church to be built also were recently approved.
City Council members on May 14 took no action on the motion for a conditional use permit to allow a Chipotle Mexican Grill to open at 1289 Jeffco Blvd., where a Jack in the Box restaurant had previously been in Arnold.
Planning Commission members voted 10-0 on April 14 to recommend approving the permit for Chipotle. Because council members did not take any action, the permit was approved.
“We are currently scheduled to open a new location in Arnold this winter,” Chipotle spokeswoman Annie Gradinger said in an email. “We are always looking for communities where we can serve classically-cooked, real food and establish new local partnerships, and we believe Arnold will be a great fit.”
On April 14, Arnold Community Development Director Sarah Turner told the Planning Commission the current building at the location in the Water Tower Shopping plaza will be demolished.
She said a new building will be built to comply with modern drive-thru requirements for a pass-by lane and traffic stacking.
Turner said Chipotle needed a conditional use permit because the new restaurant will have an outdoor patio dining area, and the building will have a drive-thru. She said the restaurant’s drive-thru will only be used to pick up online orders, meaning customers would not order from a menu board outside the restaurant and pull around to pick up orders.
During the Planning Commission and City Council meetings, there were concerns about traffic in the shopping plaza because Chipotle will be built near the 7 Brew coffee stand, 1275 Jeffco Blvd., that opened last October.
Shawna Fuhrman of the Dungan Design Group, who spoke for Chipotle at the Planning Commission meeting, said the restaurant did not expect to add traffic that would impact 7 Brew.
During the council meeting, Turner said Chipotle representatives told her they would have extra staff to help with traffic flow when the area near the coffee stand and restaurant gets busy.
Turner also told the Planning Commission that city staff have received numerous comments of excitement for Chipotle to come to Arnold.
“The redevelopment of such a visible corner is a desirable refresh for the city,” she told the commission.
While Chipotle will fill in a vacant site in the city, another empty location t will not be filled in the near future.
Club Car Wash, which has a location at 1414 Jeffco Blvd., will not be adding a second Arnold location at this time.
The company had sought to build a car wash at 917 Arnold Commons Drive in the Arnold Commons shopping plaza. The car wash would have replaced Fireside Arnold Stove and Fireplace Center, which closed in August 2025 after being damaged by a tornado earlier that year.
On April 14, Planning Commission members voted 8-2 to not approve Club Car Wash be built at that location and then voted 7-3 to table the conditional use permit to allow the company to submit a revised plan.
Planning Commission members said they didn’t believe the shopping plaza would be able to handle the traffic the car wash would attract during peak times, such as drivers wanting to wash their cars after winter storms. Commission members also worried about the noise the car wash generates.
City documents show on April 21 that Club Car Wash withdrew its application to build a location in the Arnold Commons shopping plaza.
On April 14, the Planning Commission voted 10-0 to approve the Good Day Farm dispensary, 2008 Richardson Road, to install a drive-thru window.
Customers would only pick up orders from the window at the dispensary, which is across the street from a Circle K gas station and McDonald’s restaurant near I-55.
On May 14, City Council members took no action to adjust the Planning Commission’s approval, allowing for the drive-thru window to be installed.
Planning Commission members voted 9-0 on May 12 to approve the site plan for the new Holy Family Catholic Church to be built at 2318 Church Road.
The commission’s decision was final and did not go to the council.
“This is a site plan review for an allowed use by right, a place of worship,” Turner told the commission. “So, it is being reviewed and determined by the Planning Commission solely. This is not you’re making a recommendation to council. This is you all making a final determination on development.”
Holy Family was formed in when the Immaculate Conception and St. David parishes merged in August 2023 as part of the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ “All Things New” initiative.
The parish will build its new church where the former Immaculate Conception Church was on its campus, which also includes a school, Parish Center, cemetery and athletic fields.
The parish tore down the Immaculate Conception Church in October 2025 after it was damaged by a tornado in March of that year. Holy Family sold St. David Church, 2334 Tenbrook Road, to the Rockport Baptist Church in February.