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This file photo shows the former River Inn at 700 State Street, Springfield. The inn was demolished and is now proposed as the site of a new McDonald's restuarant.
(File photos / The Republican)
SPRINGFIELD - A proposal to relocate a McDonald's restaurant from its current site on State Street to a nearby location that once housed the troubled River Inn, has drawn opposition from the McKnight Neighborhood Council and residents.
Following two meetings, including a hearing at Rebecca Johnson School last week, the McKnight Neighborhood Council voted 6-3 to oppose the plans for the new McDonald's.
DevelopSpringfield, which owns the River Inn property at State and Thompson Street, has an agreement to sell the property to McDonald's, said John "Jay" Minkarah, chief executive officer of the private, nonprofit development corporation. However, the sale is contingent on McDonald's getting all permit and zone change approvals, Minkarah said.
Walter Kroll, president of the McKnight Neighborhood Council, said many residents spoke against the project, voicing concerns that it would hurt the quality of life in that neighborhood.
"I don't think that the owner-operator met the threshold (and) did not demonstrate how they were going to overcome the quality of life issues brought up by the neighborhood - traffic, public safety, noise, the drive-through, and the hours of operation," Kroll said.
McDonalds, operating as McDonald's USA LLC, will need approval from the City Council for a special permit for a drive-through window service, and is expected to need zone changes for two residential lots also being sold for the restaurant plans.
A key neighborhood concern is that the new McDonald's would abut a residential area on Thompson Street, as opposed to the current McDonald's being within a commercial plaza on State Street, Kroll said.
The franchise owner-operator, Dan Ashburn, was seeking permission for around-the-clock service hours, but indicated he was willing to work with the neighborhood, Kroll said. it would replace the current nearby site, also owned by Ashburn. .
Some residents were critical of DevelopSpringfield for agreeing to sell the River Inn property for reuse as a fast food restaurant, rather than for a more upscale use, Kroll said. In addition, there was some feeling that DevelopSpringfield, while striving to provide a supermarket in the Mason Square area to improve access to healthy food, has the contrasting plan to aid plans for a fast food restaurant, he said.
Minkarah said that ultimately is it will be up to the community, through the permit and hearing process, if it wants or does not want the new McDonald's.
DevelopSpringfield continues to work hard on the separate supermarket plans to serve that area of the city, he said.
"I don't think we see that as a contradiction," Minkarah said. "A proposal was brought to us for reuse of the property. We evaluated it. We felt it was a viable proposal. We felt it met the key goals of getting that site back to a viable economic use, creating jobs and increasing the tax base."
In addition, Minkarah said that a McDonald's restaurant was consistent with the expectation that a restaurant would be a potential good reuse for the inn property on the State Street corridor.
"Certainly, we understand people have different points of view," Minkarah said, adding that he does not believe it is the organization's place to judge food quality.
DevelopSpringfield, a private, nonprofit development corporation, purchased the River Inn and its lot for $250,000 in January 2013, and also paid off $79,500 in backs taxes and fees owed by the previous owners. Thereafter, it demolished the building and bought residential lots.
The inn had been condemned by the city in 2011, and tenants were evacuated after inspectors found code violations and unsanitary conditions, officials said.