Planning Commission Approves Site Plan for New McDonald's Restaurant

The owner of McDonald's in Saline plans to tear it down and build a new restaurant in the same place. Wednesday, the Saline Planning Commission approved the site plan for the new building. 

Work could begin in late August and wrap up by the end of the year.

McDonald's has been in Saline since 1977.

"We believe we have been a good community partner since we arrived," said Joe Minorick, construction manager for McDonald's.

Minorick said the existing building will be scraped and rebuilt  using a standard McDonald's prototype. The building, a bit more than 4100 square feet, will feature a playplace.  McDonald's plans a side-by-side drive-through.

There are plans for 35 parking spots, down by 22 from what exists today, but still six more than zoning requires. Fewer parking places means there will be less impervious land on site,  which would help with stormwater runoff.

The on-site detention pond will be dredged, and equipment will be replaced.

Minorick said McDonald's is gearing up for an aggressive schedule. He hopes the construction work will begin in 2026 and be done by end of the year.

"Once we do ground break, we anticipate a 14-week schedule," Minorick said. "Right now, we are tracking the end of August, early September. The project is currently out for bids right now."

Mayor Brian Marl asked about the rationale behind demolishing the building and building new vs remodeling.

"The building itself is 50-plus years old. There are parts of the building you just want to refresh. Saline has a basement and McDonald's is moving away from any buildings that have basements," Minorick said.

Members of the Planning Commission asked about the reduction in barrier-free parking places to two. Minorick noted that currently, those places are on the east side of the building, putting the drive-through exit between the spaces and the building, which is less than optimal. But, he said, they could add a few more spaces than the two currently planned.

During public comment, Ben Goodman echoed the need for maintaining barrier-free parking places and said they should be more accessible for seniors. His was the only public comment.

Asked if he would commit to doubling the number of ADA parking places, Minorick said he'd like to talk to owner-operator Ovi Datta.

"As you may know, McDonald's usually goes above and beyond ADA requirements. We pride ourselves on that," Minorick said. "I would like the opportunity to talk to the operator, to study it a little bit."

Planning Commissioner Dean Girbach moved to grant conditional approval of a preliminary and final site plan approval of the project.

Planning Chair Adrienne Young said she would have liked to see engineering drawings included in the submission to the planning commission.

Beyond the conditions noted by Saline Community Development Director Christopher Atkin, Girbach added two new conditions. The first was to create a third handicapped parking place. The second was to have engineers approve of the drawings and submit that approval to the planning commission.

Girbach's motion was seconded by Commissioner Scott Fosdick.

Young was the only no vote.

Commissioners Jessica Laford and Cheryl Hoeft were absent.

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