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McDonald’s at 413 Main Street is planning to demolish its existing building and replace it with new construction with at least double the drive-through lane capacity in the heart of our downtown. Its application will be the subject of a public hearing Monday, October 16 at 8:15 pm, Reading Town Hall, before the Community Planning and Development Commission.
The letter below, signed by 36 residents and business owners, was sent to several McDonald’s executives and Reading town officials.
If you support this letter please co-sign it online at this link and consider also sending a brief email with your comments to McDonald’s officials (Rachel Kaprielian, Director of U.S. Government Relations and Troy Faulkner, National Real Estate Lead) and Town officials (Mary Benedetto, Reading Senior Planner and the Reading Select Board), using the following email addresses, which can be cut-and-pasted for this purpose:
Rachel.Kaprielian@us.mcd.com; Troy.Faulkner@us.mcd.com; mbenedetto@ci.reading.ma.us; selectboard@ci.reading.ma.us
Please also consider commenting in person at the October 16 public hearing.
Mary Ellen O’Neill, 125 Summer Avenue
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Dear McDonald’s Leadership Team and Franchisee:
The undersigned residents and business owners in Reading, Massachusetts, and other concerned individuals respectfully ask the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisee at 413 Main Street to withdraw the current reconstruction proposal and consider a mixed-use development or sale of this prime three-quarter-acre parcel two blocks from the Reading MBTA station.
The current proposed project makes the old car-centric design worse. It would replace today’s single drive-through kiosk and single window with two kiosks and three windows. This could double traffic across sidewalks and travel lanes as cars turn into and out of the site near a badly congested intersection that is already a “high crash location,” per a Town analysis. The proposal raises obvious pedestrian safety and traffic concerns.
Moreover, the project is badly out of step with Town and state policies and goals and does not support Reading’s plans for this “Eastern Gateway” portion of the town core. Under high-density mixed-use zoning that now applies to 413 Main—and following Massachusetts’ “MBTA Communities” housing development goals near transit—housing or offices could be built atop first-floor retail or restaurant uses. (And updated local zoning requires more open space relative to earlier downtown mixed-use projects.)
It is difficult to see how the project squares with McDonald’s corporate goals of “reducing emissions in our restaurant operations” and its “commitment to achieve net zero emissions across… global operations by 2050.” It may even reflect a lost business opportunity for McDonald’s, a company that has always understood that real estate is a core business. The biggest value of a prime downtown site like 413 Main may transcend revenue from fast-food sales.
McDonalds CEO Chris Kempczinski recently said the company was “slow to innovate.” With the existing restaurant set to be demolished, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to be innovative and for McDonald’s to become a true community partner. Take a step back to engage constructively with the professional staff and boards of the Town of Reading, and appropriate state agencies such as the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to rethink the use of this site. Possible results could include:
- A mixed-use redevelopment that includes housing units and significant real estate profitability for McDonalds and its franchisee.
- Public infrastructure assistance or acquisition of a ROW to improve
pedestrian connectivity in the area between the downtown and the
Walkers Brook Drive commercial areas.
- Engagement with Reading’s legislative delegation to identify relevant grants to assist in the above process.
- A profitable sale of the current site to a mixed-use developer.
The starting point must be a pause or withdrawal of the current proposal.
Thank you for your sustainability efforts and for your time and attention to this letter. Initial signers are below.
Sincerely,
Rick Shaffer, 67 Woburn Street
Barry Gagne, 100 Woburn Street
Nick Face, owner, Empower on Haven, 190 Haven Street
Frank Pellegrini, owner, Professors Market, 505 Main Street
David and Julie Talbot, 75 Linden Street
John and Mary Ellen O’Neill, 125 Summer Avenue
Julie Aylward, 25 Prescott Street
Kate & Josh Goldlust, 112 Spruce Road
Sue Wondolowski, 4 Bartlett Circle
Amy Cole, 3 Bartlett Circle
Harriet Lyons, 225 Forest Street
Melissa Henri, 34 Marla Lane
Nancy Docktor, 371 Pearl Street
Laura and Chris Wilson, 24 Bay State Rd
Megan Fidler Carey, 64 Charles Street
Michael and Marlena Bita, 18 Strawberry Hill Lane
Christine Lusk, 52 Washington Street
Alice Collins and John Lippitt, 23 Mineral Street
Vanessa Alvarado, 38 Mount Vernon Street
Ellen Kearns, Esq, 2 Beaver Road
Bob and Rose Connor, 7 Beacon Street
Carolyn Whiting, 17 Chestnut Road
John and Joanne Harney, 106 Summer Avenue
Joe Carnahan, 39 Middlesex Avenue
Genady Pilyavsky, 3 Harriman Avenue
Sarah Brukilacchio, 48 Maple Ridge Road
Lorraine Willwerth, 26 Green Street
