Not Lovin’ It: Why A New McDonald’s Is Sending Shockwaves Through a Small Community

A proposal to put a McDonald's drive-through on a corner in Huntington, NY, drew such a large crowd to a recent zoning hearing that the board scrapped the rest of its agenda to deal with it.

The plan would replace a long-vacant Citibank property in the Greenlawn hamlet at East Pulaski Road and Park Avenue with a drive-through Golden Arches. At the June hearing, residents lined up to oppose it, citing traffic, emergency vehicle access, and the safety of a proposed right-turn-only entrance and exit.

The Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals hasn’t reached a decision on the development yet. But the fight speaks to a bigger question for any homeowner whose neighborhood is about to change: When a new commercial development moves in, what does it add to an area—and what does it take away? And do the people living nearby have a right to worry about what it means for their home's value, not just their day-to-day?

'When is enough, enough?'

The June 4 hearing stretched nearly two hours, with the applicant's attorneys, engineers, and traffic consultants making their case as residents pushed back, according to News12. 

Not everyone is opposed. Some drivers have voiced support, and as one resident put it online, everyone complains, but the drive-through line is always full. The fight has also spilled over onto Facebook, with some posts garnering hundreds of comments on both sides of the argument. 

Though many of the comments speak specifically to what McDonald’s brings to an area—popular, cheap, albeit generally unhealthy food—for many residents, it’s not about one fast-food chain or another. It’s about the development itself. 

"I don't have any issue with McDonald's, I think it's delicious," Sean Bishop, a Greenlawn resident, explained to Realtor.com. "Terrible for you, but delicious."

His objection, Bishop said, is about the pace of building on Long Island: "It's more of, 'When is enough, enough?'"

Bishop doesn't want a different tenant on the corner. He'd rather see nothing built there at all. 

"I just don't think it's necessary to develop every inch of this island. Green spaces are important, too," he said.

Asked what he'd put on the lot instead, he suggested tearing down the empty bank and turning it into a dog park.

"We should be working to keep people engaged in nature, not the other way around."

It’s the traffic, not the tenant

This perspective—that some commercial uses simply don't belong on certain streets—is shared by those going through the homebuying process, according to local agents.

"Commercial proximity comes up constantly with buyers," says Kate Works, a licensed real estate broker with Compass who specializes in Huntington and the surrounding Suffolk County market.

A Trader Joe's or a coffee shop nearby is often a selling point, she says, while a drive-through, gas station, or anything that generates heavy traffic tends to give buyers pause—especially in a residential area.

The difference, Works says, is the setting. 

"A 24-hour drive-through abutting a quiet residential street is very different than the same business in a town center already built for that kind of activity," says Works.

In a downtown area, residents chose that level of action. If you didn’t choose to live near that sort of activity, you won’t be happy if it decides to move in nearby.

"It's rarely the use itself buyers object to," she says. "It's the noise, headlights, and traffic that come with it."

Research backs up the concern: A National Academies of Sciences review of property-value studies found that home values fall an average of about 0.4% for every additional decibel of road traffic noise. That kind of noise adds up on a high-volume corner.

What sellers have to disclose

The bigger issue for homeowners is what a pending proposal like this one does to a sale already in motion.

Works says she's had buyers ask directly whether anything is being built nearby before they'll make an offer—not because of resale math, but because it shapes daily life in the home. And a commercial proposal near a listing isn't something a seller can keep quiet. 

"On the seller side, a pending commercial proposal near a listing is something we have to disclose," she says. "It can affect negotiations or cause a buyer to walk."

That's the practical stake for anyone in the area weighing a sale: a project that hasn't broken ground—and may never get approved—can still cost them at the negotiating table.

Why it's never just one building

Works argues the fight is bigger than a single corner. When a commercial use moves into a noncommercial area, she says, it tends to shift the neighborhood and set a marker for the next proposal.

"Once you allow one use in, it's hard to argue against the next," she says. She points to the priciest real estate in the region as evidence of the opposite approach.

"The Hamptons and the Gold Coast are among the most valuable real estate in the country, if not the world, largely because zoning has kept commercial sprawl out."

That, she says, is why a fast-food permit can draw a standing-room crowd to a zoning board on a weeknight.

"It's never just about one building. It's about the precedent it sets," she says.

For Greenlawn, that precedent is still unsettled. The board's next move depends on the traffic data it's waiting on—and on whether the neighbors can make enough noise of their own to keep the corner quiet.