Residents of this West Valley city are concerned about a McDonald's drive-thru. Here's why

Goodyear residents are raising concerns over a new McDonald’s set to come to their city.

The McDonald’s would be on the southeast corner of Sarival Avenue and Yuma Road.

Christian Williams, Goodyear’s principal city planner, said the area will be located within the Pueblo Verde neighborhood, which is located in the central part of Goodyear. The McDonald’s will be located on a larger 6.5-acre lot zoned for residential and commercial uses.

The drive-thru restaurant would be about 4,500 square feet and would have 45 parking spaces. It will be located 150-210 feet away from the nearest home, Williams said. But some residents say the McDonald’s will be located too close to homes in the area, potentially impacting traffic in the area and making it too loud.

Residents voiced their concerns at Monday's City Council meeting, with Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzillo having to quiet the loud applause in between speakers. The opposition is spilling over from previous meetings, with 30 people having attended a neighborhood outreach meeting in January, Williams said.

Kori Cowan, who appeared at the City Council meeting with her husband Ray Cowan, said their family’s house is located 150 feet from the proposed McDonald’s in Glenmont Estates. One of the access points to the McDonald’s is located only 30 feet from their backyard, she said.

Some concerns that residents have cannot be controlled by the developer, Kori Cowan said. Some of those concerns include loud music coming from cars, or people being loud outside of the McDonald’s. There’s also the potential of thousands of cars coming to the location per day and car accidents, Kori Cowan said.

She also said she's concerned that, by the city letting the McDonald’s come to this location, it will set a precedent for other similar businesses to seek out locations so close to residential areas.

Alan Stark said the drive-thru will be the closest drive-thru to residential homes in the city, apart from one other drive-thru that was built before the surrounding homes. And the limited nature of the surrounding intersections — the two intersections near the McDonalds don't have left turn lanes — might cause traffic to become even more congested, Stark said.

But McDonald's will address some of the concerns voiced at previous meetings. For example, the operating hours at the McDonald’s will be restricted from 5 a.m. to midnight, as opposed to the location being a 24-hour drive-thru, Williams said.

Paul Gilbert, who represented McDonald’s as well as Goodyear McDonald's owner Mellon Family Management, added that the land has been zoned for commercial use since people moved into the Glenmont Estates as a part of a larger masterplan. The land is allowed to be zoned for commercial use, Gilbert said.

Gilbert said several precautions will be taken in order to reduce disturbances to nearby homes. For example, the display screen in the drive-thru will allow for less communication between customers and the speaker. There will also be a 6-foot wall near the drive-thru that will reduce noise. McDonald’s is even required by stipulation that the noise from the speakers will not be heard beyond the boundaries of the property, Gilbert said.

McDonald’s is also required to submit an odor mitigation plan to the city prior to the approval of any building permits, according to city documents. And Gilbert said the location will be installing an exhaust scrubbing device, which can remove some types of particles from the exhaust system.

Councilmember Vicki Gillis said that, if she were living in one of the nearby homes, she would want a sit-down restaurant as opposed to a drive-thru, especially due to the fact that the drive-thru will be located in the middle of homes in several directions.

Goodyear Vice Mayor Laura Kaino acknowledged that the transition might be difficult for families like the Cowans, who have lived in the area since 2012. While there may have been a decrease in commercial development due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kaino said it seems to now be picking up, especially in areas where there is vacant land.

The use permit ultimately passed 5-2, with all voting in favor aside from Councilmember Bill Stipp and Gillis.

Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on Twitter @AlexandraHardle.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Goodyear residents are concerned about McDonald's drive-thru