The Richardson City Council on Monday approved a zoning change and special permit to allow a restaurant with drive‑through service at the former Wendy’s site at the northwest corner of West Spring Valley Road and South Sherman Street, with a condition restricting the drive‑through to mobile or online pickup only.

The site is within the city’s Main Street Central Expressway form‑based code (Rail Side Subdistrict). Developer representatives told the council they purchased the property in 2023, renovated facades and sought a new special permit after a prior Wendy’s special permit became invalid following a period of vacancy. Applicant John Martini said the deed restrictions placed by Wendy’s and retail market conditions made sale and reactivation the best path to reuse.

What council decided
The council voted 4–3 to approve the zoning file, adopting the City Plan Commission recommendation that limited the drive‑through to mobile/online order pickup only and prohibited external menu boards and ordering speakers. The ordinance also limits hours of operation in the drafted ordinance to 9 a.m.–10 p.m. The city attorney and planning staff noted that if council wanted a different condition (for example, allowing a traditional drive‑through or allowing the entitlement to “run with the land” so future tenants could use it), that would have to be specified in the motion and tied to the ordinance.

Why staff and CPC recommended limits
City planning staff and the City Plan Commission recommended the pickup‑only restriction to reduce the typical queuing and pedestrian conflicts associated with traditional fast‑food drive‑through lanes in a subdistrict the city envisions as a transit‑ and pedestrian‑oriented place type. Derica Peters, senior planner, reminded council the property does not meet several modern Main Street PD streetscape standards (e.g., wider sidewalks, build‑to zone) and the applicant requested exceptions; the applicant said only a small patio addition is proposed and that other streetscape work would not be feasible without extensive grading and utility relocation.

Public comment and applicant statements
Speakers at the meeting included residents and transit advocates; earlier in the meeting public commenters discussed unrelated transit funding and service‑cut concerns. Applicant John Martini asked the council to approve the drive‑through entitlement and suggested the mobile pickup restriction would weaken the site’s marketability; he argued the proposed reuse generates less traffic than the prior Wendy’s and said the developer had already invested in site cleanup and façade work.

Ending
Council approved the special permit with the mobile/online pickup condition by a 4–3 vote. The record shows neighbors and commissioners debated sidewalks, glazing and the city’s Main Street standards versus the realities of reusing a 1994 building; staff and the applicant agreed to continue coordination on site improvements as necessary.