An application for a McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant off of Summit Boulevard in Frisco continues to be met with opposition from community members. 

Frisco Planning Commission began reviewing sketches in April for a McDonald’s proposed to go in a location that formerly housed a FirstBank. Neighbors have said they are wary of the impacts another fast food restaurant with a drive-thru will bring to an already busy area. Other residents raised concerns about what they feel is the town changing its code to accommodate the corporation. 

Frisco resident Michael Bernstein expressed his opposition to the current application during the public comment portion of a Tuesday, Oct. 28, Frisco Town Council meeting. 

“Public Trust has been breached, and I want that on the record … The process now carries the unmistakable appearance of being engineered to accommodate one applicant,” he said. 

Bernstein referenced a code amendment proposed by the town’s planning department at a Thursday, May 15 Frisco Planning Commission meeting that suggested the town increase the number of allowable menu boards a drive-thru establishment can have. The code amendment was passed by Frisco Town Council at a Tuesday, June 11, meeting and made it so drive-thru establishments can have one menu per drive-thru lane as opposed to one menu per-site. 

Bernstein’s comment of opposition followed that of several other residents who spoke up at a Thursday, Oct. 16, planning commission meeting. 

Resident Harry Canales spoke on the worries he and other residents have brought to the town over the last several months, but also pushed back against what representatives of McDonald’s said during their presentation to planning officials. He said he found McDonald’s representatives’ claims that the fast food restaurant would help mitigate some of the food insecurity in the area false. He said it was particularly hard to hear as an employee of local nonprofit Family and Intercultural Resource Center, an organization that deals with food insecurity. 

He said he felt the public’s concerns have been “falling on deaf ears.” 

Other public members worried about the ability of emergency vehicles to navigate an area already prone to traffic, which they argued will get worse with a drive-thru fast food chain restaurant. Some highlighted the carbon emissions idling cars produce at drive-thru establishments, which is why towns like Breckenridge have banned most drive-thru establishments . 

The applicant also did a traffic impact study taking into account the nearby roadways. Commissioner Candice De asked the McDonald’s team about their assessment finding that the level of service of the surrounding roads would increase by 2046. Alex Larson with Platinum Engineering, who was working on behalf of the applicant, said this was because of the planned work to improve the nearby Interstate 70, Exit 203. He said this is expected to decrease traffic delays and improve the efficiency of the area’s transportation system at-large.

“I think the Exit 203 project is actually pushing more traffic onto these local roads, and I think we’re going to see growth,” she said. 

Commissioner Andy Stabile asked the applicant if they still plan to make it a 24-hour McDonald’s. 

The applicants said in other mountain town-based McDonald’s like those in Vail and Steamboat Springs, they found a 24-hour model doesn’t work with the local employees who often rely on public transit. They said they tried it in Silverthorne and found it didn’t work. Representatives said if the corporation does decide to make this a 24-hour establishment, the decision can be reversed.

The team behind the proposed McDonald’s did work to address some of the planning commission’s prior concerns with the proposal, like increasing the size of the buffer around the perimeter to better mitigate headlights from cars in the drive-thru.

Additionally, the team plans to install bike racks, redo the sidewalk near the restaurant and relocate a trash enclosure to a better place on the site that would cause less disturbance. They also got delivery and trash truck companies to agree to shutting off their trucks while serving the restaurant. 

The McDonald’s application still needs to be approved by Frisco Town Council.