The first-ever Pinkberry yogurt shop featuring a drive-thru lane will be built in Manteca.

The Planning Commission Thursday approved a plan to build a 2,500-square-foot commercial building with 1,350 square feet dedicated to the frozen yogurt shop on the northeast corner of Fremont and East Yosemite Avenue on the eastern edge of downtown.

The remaining space will be leased for other uses.

The Pinkberry chain founded in West Hollywood in 2005 now has more than 260 locations in 20 countries. The Manteca store will be the first location in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. The closet locations are in Santa Clara, Elk Grove, Sunnyvale, Roseville, Sacramento, Folsom, and Roseville.

The pandemic has prompted a number of fast food and casual dining restaurants to add drive thru lanes to their business plan.

The commission — hoping to avoid creating another traffic snafu on Yosemite Avenue that is ongoing with Chick-fill-A and sometimes with Raising Cane’s — pushed successfully to add a left turn into the site from Fremont Avenue and restricting exiting to right turn only onto Fremont.

The staff had advanced a plan that allowed for turning out onto Fremont in either direction without allowing any turns into the site from Fremont. There is also access from East Yosemite Avenue.

The commissioners were concerned with traffic backing up throughout the day using the left turn lane on southbound Fremont waiting to travel on eastbound Yosemite Avenue backing up and blocking the exit that parallels the alley.

The applicant also is working to avoid a repeat of the Chick-fil-A fiasco. They plan to use runners as Dutch Bros. does at their coffee location on West Yosemite Avenue to Cabral Motors.

The approval of the Fremont/Yosemite project has a stipulation if stacking in the drive-thru queue disrupts street traffic on a significant basis after the yogurt shop opens that the property owner must work with the city to make changes.

The city is working with Chick-fil-A to do what Pinkberry is planning on doing which is have runners as well as an “escape lane” for customers to get out of line and exit once they receive their orders. City staff said Chick-fil-A is currently looking at requiring its site to reduce traffic backups.

There will also be a 7-foot sound wall along the northern edge of the property along the alley.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com