Saugus board rules on McDonald’s drive-thru changes

SAUGUS – The Saugus Planning Board voted that a public hearing was not needed for a modification of the drive-through at the McDonald’s on Route 1 North.The plan will see the single-lane drive-through turned into a side-by-side drive through with a grass island in between.”What we’re looking to do is simply add a side-by-side ordering station,” said engineer John Kucich, “to do that we essentially just add an island that has cars merge on either side.”Kucich said the second drive-through will eliminate around five parking spaces, but the lot will still have 38 remaining, which is above the required amount.Kucich said the second drive-through will be a benefit to customers.”Any new McDonald’s that gets built now will have a side-by-side drive-through,” said Kucich. “It speeds up the time that you wait in line. If someone is in line with a minivan after soccer practice with five kids, the other line can pass them, thereby reducing queuing on the site.”The plan had previously been approved by the Board of the Selectmen, the Board of Appeals and the Conservation Commission.”Our concerns were any significant changes to traffic flow and changes to the lighting,” said Planning Board Chair Mary Carfagna. “If there were any significant changes it would be in violation of what we already approved.”The board voted that the changes were not significant enough to warrant a formal hearing.In other business, the board will hold a site walk-through at 17 Osprey Road, where the owner of Stefano’s Landscaping wants to raze a single-family home on his business property in order to build a work garage.The house is located on a contractor’s yard that Stefano’s Landscaping has owned and been operating out of since 2009.Rick Salvo, of Engineering Alliance, said the building of a 40-foot by 60-foot garage there will help his client’s business.”It will help him operate more efficiently,” said Salvo. “He’s not purchasing more vehicles or hiring more employees. He’s been utilizing this site fully permitted as a contractor’s yard for approximately one-and-a-half years.”The Planning Board will conduct the walk-through on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 2:30 p.m.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter @MattTempesta.