Dana Point / Coastal Orange County
Pacific Coast Highway between the 34100 and 34300 blocks has the drive-throughs we could confirm: Taco Bell at 34117 and Starbucks at 34122 and 34297. Monarch Bay Plaza at PCH and Crown Valley Parkway carries the service pads, with a Chevron at 32842, Chase at 32860 and a CVS with a pharmacy drive-thru at 32900. Golden Lantern Street near Camino de Avion is the third pocket, with Habit's drive-thru at 32505, a Starbucks at 32515 and a Ralphs at 32555. Drive-through restaurants are permitted by right only in the CC/V and V/RC districts, so the district map decides which of these corridors can take a new lane.
Population
32,790
Median HHI
$141,520
Median age
47.4
Homeownership
62.4%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Pacific Coast Highway · Del Prado Avenue · Crown Valley Parkway · Golden Lantern · Street of the Green Lantern
Specific shopping centers in Dana Point that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
Pacific Coast Highway at Crown Valley Parkway
Anchors / key tenants: Gelson's Market, CVS Pharmacy
PCH at Crown Valley — the premium daily-needs and dining node for the Monarch Beach/Ritz-Carlton trade area. Restaurant mix includes Ichibiri Japanese, LUA Asian Fusion, and Salt Creek Grille. Local boutiques (Coastal Accents, Meesh Boutique) anchor the lifestyle side.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Dana Point rents. These are publicly visible retail pad space businesses currently trading in the market.
Taco Bell
34117 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA 92629
The only Dana Point Taco Bell on the company's locator, marked Drive-Thru.
Starbucks drive-thru stores
34122 South Pacific Coast Highway and 34297 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA 92629
Both company-operated with a drive-thru, per Starbucks' locator (store names PCH & Granada and PCH & Dana Point Harbor).
The Habit Burger & Grill, Dana Point DT
32505 Golden Lantern Street, Dana Point, CA 92629
Habit's page lists a drive-thru open until 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Starbucks' locator places a Starbucks at 32515 Golden Lantern (Ocean Ranch Village) and one inside the Ralphs at 32555 Golden Lantern.
CVS Pharmacy
Monarch Bay Plaza, 32900 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 26, Dana Point, CA 92629
The center's tenant page says this location has a pharmacy drive-thru.
Chevron
Monarch Bay Plaza, 32842 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA 92629
Listed in the Monarch Bay Plaza directory with its own street number.
Chase Bank
Monarch Bay Plaza, 32860 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 5, Dana Point, CA 92629
Per the center's tenant page. Whether the branch has a drive-up lane was not confirmed.
01
Permit path: Section 9.11.020(b) lists 'Restaurant, Drive-Through' and 'Restaurant, Fast Food' as a conditional use permit in NC and CC/P and permitted in CC/V and V/RC. The general 'Drive-Through Uses' row (banks, pharmacies and similar, per Section 9.75.270) is a conditional use permit in all four districts. In Doheny Village (Section 9.14.020(d)), non-restaurant drive-throughs need a Planning Commission conditional use permit in all three districts, and drive-through restaurants are conditional in V-C/I and V-MS and prohibited in V-C/R.
02
Non-restaurant drive-through standards: Section 9.07.240 allows a bank, pharmacy or similar drive-through only on a site developed entirely with commercial uses, bans kiosks and all speaker amplification, limits hours to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., requires landscape screening of the aisle and Traffic Engineering review of on-site circulation, and parks the use at the general retail rate unless a parking study supports less. The code sets no minimum queue length, so the stacking plan will be negotiated in review.
03
Parking: Section 9.35.080(e) parks fast food at 10 stalls or 1 per 50 sq ft, whichever is greater (a 2,500 sq ft pad needs 50 stalls), dine-in restaurants under 4,000 sq ft at 1 per 100 sq ft, banks (financial services) at 1 per 250 sq ft, and automotive service at 2 stalls plus 3 per service bay. A pad in a multi-tenant center also counts toward the center's restaurant share: above 20% of the center's floor area, or above 2,000 sq ft for one restaurant, the excess is parked at the restaurant rate.
04
Auto and fuel: 'Minor Automotive Uses', which Section 9.75.270 says include service stations, car washes, tire, brake and oil change shops, are prohibited in NC and V/RC, limited to existing uses in CC/P, and a conditional use permit in CC/V. Section 9.07.130 requires new stations, and remodels of more than half the building, to follow the city's design concepts and to offer free restrooms and 24-hour air and water. In Doheny Village minor automotive is permitted in V-C/I.
05
Lot and setbacks: Section 9.11.030 sets CC/V at a 15,000 sq ft minimum lot, 100-foot width, 20-foot front setback, 15% landscaping and 0.5 FAR, with a 20-foot rear setback next to residential. Those lot minimums apply when a pad is created by subdivision through a site development permit, which matters if an owner wants to sell a pad parcel.
06
Traffic and the coast: Caltrans' 2024 count for Route 1 at Doheny Park Road is 38,900 vehicles a day, and the state route breaks at the next postmile listed after that count point, so Caltrans publishes no count for PCH through the Lantern District or at Crown Valley Parkway; ask the City for arterial counts. In the Coastal Overlay District a new pad or a change in intensity of use is development needing a coastal development permit (Sections 9.69.020 and 9.75.040), and Lantern District sites follow the Town Center Plan with strict per-use parking under Section 9.26.010(d).
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.