Milton council grants final approval for McDonald’s

By a unanimous vote, Milton Town Council gave the final approval on site plans for a McDonald’s franchise at the corner of Route 16 and Union Street Extended.

The June 3 final approval allows McDonald’s to seek a building permit for a 4,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru in the Food Lion shopping center. McDonald’s was previously given final site-plan approval by the planning and zoning commission in May.

Plans for the McDonald’s include using the existing entrances and exits to the shopping center, and installing stop marks along four of the drive aisles on the parcel. Stop marks would also be installed at the entrance and exit of the drive-thru. Access to the restaurant shows traffic coming off Union Street Extended to make a right into the far right lane of the shopping center. 

Bill Rhodunda, representing McDonald’s, said despite a lengthy road to get to this point – review of the site plans began back in October 2022 – he thinks the process produced a result that was good for both McDonald’s and the town. 

“I think we ended up with a really good plan,” he said.

Much of the planning and zoning commission’s concerns were about access to the parcel and safety issues caused by using the existing drive aisles, and that issue was brought up by Councilman Scotty Edler. Edler said McDonald’s compared the access to the Chick-fil-A on Route 1, which similarly utilizes an existing parking lot. But Edler said there is a world of difference between the two. 

“Is this going to cause traffic congestion? I just have concerns about the drive aisles,” he said.

In response, Rhodunda said McDonald’s worked with traffic consultants to find the safest way to access the parcel. He said McDonald’s also did a traffic analysis as part of its review with planning and zoning, and that analysis found the access was safe. 

Councilwoman Randi Meredith questioned the safety for pedestrians near the McDonald’s site, because the handicapped-access ramps empty near where the McDonald’s drive aisle would be. 

Despite those concerns, council was satisfied with the plans overall and that McDonald’s had met every burden in the town’s review process, as well as receiving approvals from county and state agencies. With that, council approved the final site plan.