Council approves McDonald’s at Orchard Place, grants 800‑foot variance to separation rule

The Apple Valley City Council approved a package of land‑use actions to allow a McDonald’s restaurant at Orchard Place, including rezoning Outlot A from sand and gravel to retail business, preliminarily subdividing the approximately 5.2‑acre outlot into two lots, granting a conditional use permit and an 800‑foot variance to the city’s 1,000‑foot separation requirement for a Class 2 restaurant, and authorizing a site plan and building permit for a 3,859‑square‑foot restaurant on Lot 2, Block 1.

City planning staff explained the applications to the council, describing changes made after the planning commission review: the sidewalk alignment along Pilot Knob was moved to connect to the trail on 150th Street West, the trash enclosure location was revised at the applicant’s request, and several parking‑layout modifications (including a stop bar and turnaround) were added to manage drive‑through traffic. The landscaping plan shows roughly 21 new trees, coniferous shrubs on the berm and additional plantings to buffer adjacent residential properties and the drive‑through.

Under city code performance standards, a Class 2 restaurant must be at least 1,000 feet from residential or institutional property lines. Staff said the proposed McDonald’s would be about 200 feet from the nearest residential property when measured property line to property line (near Bowdoin Senior Living); the applicant noted the structure‑to‑structure distance exceeds 400 feet and that Pilot Knob and a stormwater pond separate the sites. The applicant also pointed to a berm — staff corrected the record to say the berm grade varies from about 7 to 10 feet — and added landscaping as mitigation for lighting and headlight impacts.

Planning commission members voted 6–1 to recommend approval of the rezoning, subdivision and CUP; no public comments were recorded at the commission hearing. On the council consent, Councilmember Hebert moved the rezoning ordinance and Councilmember Bergman seconded. Following separate motions, the council approved the rezoning, the preliminary plat subdividing Outlot A into Lot 1 (about 1 acre) and Lot 2 (about 1.5 acres), the conditional use permit with the variance (council directed an amendment to the resolution to correct findings 4 and 6 to reflect the berm grade), and the site plan building permit authorization; each motion passed on voice vote.

Council and staff did not attach additional conditions beyond the amendment to the CUP findings; staff reiterated that utilities would be served from English Avenue and that the applicant must provide a nursery bid list prior to building permit issuance to confirm compliance with the city’s landscaping percentage requirement.