Just a reminder that McDonald’s map amendment (upzoning) request will be on ANC 5A’s meeting agenda again tonight (Zoning Commission case number 22-19). McDonald’s is seeking the upzoning in order to build a new restaurant with a drive-thru at its current location at 4950 South Dakota Avenue NE. The existing restaurant does not have a drive-thru. A zoning change is needed to put in a drive-thru. The ANC tabled a vote at its May meeting with the intention of taking a vote on the matter tonight. DC’s Office of Planning (OP) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) have not provided official comments just yet, but DDOT did ask McDonald’s to conduct a queue analysis.

(Note, I previously covered this issue in these posts.)

I am not sure how the ANC will handle this vote. I have lots of thoughts about all of this, but I will just say the idea of upzoning solely for a drive-thru is truly fascinating and an interesting use of the comprehensive planning amendment process to me. Especially so because OP rejected making changes to the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) for the church property next door to the McDonald’s when the church had been trying for some years to build affordable housing on its property. In any case, I still remember how a prior version of moveDC discussed making South Dakota Avenue NE more hospitable to pedestrians and bike riders. I also still remember how much people talk about how much they hate car traffic on South Dakota Avenue. I am really curious to see how District agencies thread this needle on this. I hope that if the ANC votes to support this rezoning request as they did a few years ago, that they will really really work with DDOT and the Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) early and often to make this as painless as possible instead of just talking about preserving the neighborhood character of North Michigan Park.

As a reminder, here are some FAQs provided by McDonald’s. Since some residents at a prior meeting were aghast at the thought of a two-story McDonald’s (kitchen would be on second floor, dining on first floor), it is worth noting that even without the zoning change, McDonald’s could build a two-story building today. In addition, here is a presentation from McDonald’s from a prior ANC meeting.