Fourth Street Eureka McDonald's being remodeled, should be open by July

Restaurant's footprint to triple; $1.4M renovation expected to be completed by mid-July

By Melissa Simon

msimon@times-standard.com @Melissa_Simon on Twitter

A construction crew readies the Fourth Street Eureka McDonald's location for a new building on Friday.

After a $1.4 million renovation, a larger McDonald's will rise in place of the old one on Fourth Street this summer, city officials said.

"The format of the new building was different, and my guess would be that it was easier to just tear down the old one," said Eureka Chief Building Official Brian Gerving.

Eureka Community Development Senior Planner Kristen Goetz said McDonald's approached her regarding the remodeling plans in late 2013. She managed the project through all the design reviews and permit process.

"Since they wanted to change the building by removing the basement and making the footprint of the new one bigger the old one was about 1,260 square feet and the new one would be about 4,316 square feet the permit need to be updated," Goetz said of the original permit, which dated back to 1971. "In addition to that, they need to add a coastal development permit because they're in the coastal zone which covers pretty much west of Broadway up to Myrtle."

McDonald's eventually obtained the building permit, coastal development permit and conditional use permit through the city's Community Development department with a little help from the City Council, according to Goetz.

"This permit process was a little more involved than others because the original conditional use permit approved by the Planning Commission was appealed by an adjacent property owner and it then went to the City Council," Goetz said. "The council upheld the Planning Commission's original decision and then the property went through the design review."

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Fourth Street Eureka McDonald's being remodeled, should be open by July