Milton planners to resume McDonald’s review

The Milton Planning and Zoning Commission is set to resume discussions and possibly vote on a preliminary site-plan application for McDonald’s to build a 4,000-square-foot restaurant at the corner of Route 16 and Union Street Extended.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Grace Church Fellowship Hall. 

Representatives from McDonald’s requested to table the application at the commission’s Jan. 17 meeting to make changes to the plan. 

The proposed restaurant, which is permitted in the C-1 commercial zoning district, would comprise 60 seats, 39 angled parking spaces, drive-thru windows, landscaping, lighting and other improvements. 

Prior to going to planning and zoning, council had weighed in on the project, asking for sidewalk and crosswalk connections around the parcel, which were incorporated into the plan. 

The big issues for both the commission and concerned citizens are the restaurant’s potential effect on traffic at one of the busiest intersections in Milton and the aesthetics of allowing a corporate goliath like McDonald’s into Milton. 

The McDonald’s site was included in Delaware Department of Transportation studies related to a proposed Royal Farms on the other side of Union Street Extended. Built into the Royal Farms project is the addition of turn lanes and other road improvements, at Royal Farms’ expense. While McDonald’s is planning to use the existing entrances and exits to the Food Lion shopping center, the commission raised concerns about how two big-name franchises would affect traffic in the area.

The commission raised concerns about the entrance and exit to the shopping center off Union Street Extended, which is already a difficult intersection because of a curve in the road to the north. While the commission stated that a solution was needed there, the problem is that the road is maintained by DelDOT, although the department is receptive to suggestions. 

In addition to traffic, the commission asked for information on the landscaping and lighting plan McDonald’s is planning to have. Commissioners and residents alike questioned the effect McDonald’s would have on the small-town character of Milton. Representatives from McDonald’s asked to table the application to make changes, and it was agreed to put the matter off until Feb. 21.