Is Downtown McDonald’s Drive-Thru Hindering Walkability? Plan Commission Suggests 2-Year Permit Extension

The Dallas Plan Commission balked this month at renewing a 10-year Specific Use Permit for a downtown McDonald’s drive-thru, instead settling on a two-year permit and opening up a larger conversation about whether the business is a good use for its location in the midst of what they hope to become a bustling business district. 

Commissioner Melissa Kingston, who represents the area on the west line of South Griffin Street between Commerce and Jackson streets, attempted to deny the SUP altogether but failed to get support from her colleagues. She said she’d suggested previously when the SUP expired that the restaurant come up with a way to operate without a drive-thru. 

“Uses of drive-thrus discourage people from using other local businesses because they drive in, get what they want, and they drive out,” Kingston said. “It discourages people from using other forms of transportation like mass transportation, bicycles, and being pedestrians because it encourages single-occupancy vehicle use. It is in conflict with having an environment that promotes a walkable or bike-friendly area.” 

Dallas Planner Martin Bate acknowledged that staff recommended approval of a five-year extension even though the drive-thru goes against the Downtown Dallas 360 Plan, which Kingston said “specifically recognizes this corridor as the place we want to be a catalyst for redevelopment.” 

Dozens of downtown business owners, residents, and workers submitted letters of opposition, the commissioner explained. 

The 20,000-square-foot McDonald’s has been downtown since 1979, but it isn’t exactly a beloved-by-all landmark. It’s affordable, however, and is the only downtown food option before 6 a.m. and after 10 p.m., land use attorney Suzan Kedron said. 

Watch the Nov. 7 City Plan Commission meeting here. 

Commissioners Weigh in on McDonald’s Drive-Thru

Three Dallas residents, including two McDonald’s employees, spoke in support of the SUP. Just one resident opposed the permit at last week’s CPC meeting, although officials alluded to the aforementioned dozens of emails. 

District 7 Commissioner Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan suggested that taking away the drive-thru would be removing the vast majority — about 68% — of the restaurant’s business and could ultimately cause it to shutter. The downtown McDonald’s offers employment opportunities to formerly incarcerated individuals and those who have difficulty getting hired elsewhere, the commissioner said. 

She added that the Greyhound Station — not McDonald’s — is the biggest eyesore in the area. 

“To look in this audience and see that the majority of this audience are Black and Brown individuals who already can’t afford to live downtown … Downtown is gentrified; it doesn’t promote inclusion,” Wheeler-Reagan said. “The drive-thru does not need to be shut down. We can’t even afford to live. We can’t afford to eat, and we almost don’t get hired. I don’t care about a 360 Plan, a [Vision] Zero Plan. We also have to look at the people who are going to be affected.” 

Kingston appeared to take offense at some of Wheeler-Reagan’s comments and said no one is placing blame on McDonald’s; she simply wants to adhere to city policies and plan for a better future. 

“Downtown is very inclusive … probably the most inclusive place we have in our city,” she said. “Two of the opponents who wrote in letters are the two largest affordable housing developers we have in the city and they operate affordable housing projects downtown. To suggest that people that are opposing this are a bunch of rich white dudes who want to clean house is just untrue.” 

Wheeler-Reagan countered that’s not what she said; she wanted the affected people to be considered when making the decision. 

‘An Opportunity to Initiate Change’

Commissioner Tom Forsyth said that he didn’t want to “contribute to the death” of a business that has been a good neighbor for 40-plus years. 

Commissioner Lorie Blair said she has been patronizing the downtown McDonald’s since she moved to Dallas in 1997. Before the drive-thru was installed, the parking situation was challenging and caused people to get blocked in. Once the drive-thru opened, people were able to get in and out swiftly and safely, Blair explained.

 Commissioner Darrell Herbert said Dallas is not yet a walkable city and now is not the time to shut down a drive-thru. He also emphasized that many of the people who work downtown can’t afford to eat in the restaurants there. 

“How can we expect the people who provide services to us to eat and survive in this city if we continue making decisions that destroy them?” he said. 

CPC Vice Chair Brent Rubin said his vote would have been “an easy no” if this were a new application for a new project, but because it is existing successfully and the area is not yet being redeveloped, those factors must be considered. 

“I don’t see a lot of issues with pedestrians,” Rubin said. “I don’t see traffic stacking up on Commerce or Jackson. I think this McDonald’s deserves some credit [but] I don’t think a drive-thru makes sense here for the long-term.” 

The conversation, sometimes lively, reflected that the CPC members are conflicted about planning for the future in accordance with city policy and pending redevelopment and think the drive-thru isn’t sustainable for the future, but it may be too soon to shut down the whole operation. The CPC is a recommending body and ultimately the decision lies with the Dallas City Council. 

Commissioner Deborah Carpenter noted that small SUP extensions have been given to batch plants in the past with the suggestion that they need to “wind down” operations, and that hasn’t happened. 

“There was just no recognition whatsoever so at some point you have to say, ‘OK, this is it,’” she said. 

Commissioner Tip Housewright supported denial of the permit, saying a decision shouldn’t be based on the fact that nothing has changed recently.

“Hopefully this Commission is about change and is about making our city better,” he said. “This seems like an opportunity to initiate some change.” 

McDonald’s Specific Use Permit

The McDonald’s SUP was originally issued in June 2000 and renewed in 2010. The City Council granted a two-year extension in 2021. The permit expired and the applicant applied for renewal, asking for 10 years. The Commission battled in the Nov. 7 meeting over whether the extension should be five years or three years and ultimately agreed that two years is an appropriate extension.

The surrounding area includes a public park, surface parking, a large federal office building, and other office uses.

 Rubin said there has been talk about new downtown development that could impact the McDonald’s but “I haven’t seen any dirt moving and there’s not anything super concrete that I’m seeing right now that is imminent.” 

“This isn’t an easy decision, but maybe an additional reprieve — and I use the word reprieve very deliberately because I think this operator should find a way to relocate employees if this isn’t going to work without a drive-thru — of maybe a couple more years and then we come back and evaluate,” he said. “I think I would be very hard-pressed in a couple of years to extend the SUP again. I don’t think I’m going to be able to support the motion to deny but five years seems like giving too long a leash.” 

CPC Chair Tony Shidid also did not support Kingston’s motion to deny. 

“I’m a little bit uncomfortable taking a position that the time is due for this drive-thru,” Shidid said. “There are some exciting plans for that area, but those are just exciting plans for the moment. I’d like to see a little more of that get fleshed out before we make this decision that is going to change some lives over there for a business that’s been there for decades.”