Main Street McDonald’s request for extended drive-thru hours under city scrutiny

The Waltham City Council is once again considering a request from the Main Street McDonald’s to extend drive-thru and courier-exclusive pickup window hours to 2 a.m., seven days a week, with attorney Joseph Connors making the case for the extension at the council’s Oct. 27 meeting. 

The request did not go unchallenged, however.

A resident neighboring the McDonald’s, noting that he was speaking on behalf of neighbors unable to attend, requested additional information on the restaurant’s sound and light mitigation efforts. 

Ward 6 Councilor Sean T. Durkee echoed the call for more information about lighting and noise.

Rich Hogan, the McDonald’s owner who was also in attendance, addressed concerns by outlining mitigation efforts.

He said the new audio system will produce lower decibel levels than the old one and will be ambient noise-sensitive. Hogan also said there will be no direct light sources entering peoples’ windows.              

The McDonald’s director of facilities, Ron Maloof, said a perimeter fence will be established at the back of the property to mitigate light and directional signage at the entrances and exits of the property will be unlit.  Additionally, he said the arches on top of the building will shut off at 11 p.m.

Among other sound mitigating measures, Maloof said the new speakers will be located 125 feet from the nearest home, in contrast to the previous distance of 90 feet. Elaborating on the function of the new speaker system, he explained that the microphone will measure ambient noise, then limit outbound noise to a maximum of 15 decibels higher than the measured volume. And while he did not have data on how this would impact sound at a distance of 125 feet, he did note that when comparing decibel levels one foot from the speaker compared to 16 feet from the speaker, the latter would be almost half of the former and lower than the ambient noise.

Durkee and Ward 1 Councilor Anthony LaFauci spoke in favor of giving the proposed model a chance, and Councilor-at-Large Kathy McMenimen characterized the time between the business opening with the proposed permit and the annual period when extended hours come up for review as a “three-month trial period.” 

The desired date for construction completion was set at November 21. The councilors referred the request to the City Council’s Licenses and Franchises Committee for further review.