McDonald's Comes up with Third Design for Remodel

For more than a year, McDonald’s officials are trying to get San Juan Capistrano city leaders to sign off on a new design for a very old fast-food restaurant.

Maybe the third time’s the charm?

Franchise owner Ross Pollard is hoping to time construction with the makeover of the Ortega Highway bridge over the I-5 so that the two projects can end together, city officials have said. But McDonald’s corporate has the final say on the design.

So far, McDonald’s has proposed a modern, contemporary look and a Santa Fe, New Mexico style. Neither impressed the San Juan Capistrano Planning Commission.

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission will take another stab at it, with a third proposal that’s probably best described as mission revival or Spanish revival, Associate Planner Nick Taylor said. It would reuse the tile that's on the 1970s version of MickeyD's right now.

“The applicant’s original architectural design raised a number of issues related to consistency with the city’s architectural design guidelines,” wrote Taylor in a report to the commission. “However, as a result of ongoing collaboration with staff and having worked through several iterations of the project/building design, the applicant has developed a design that substantially meets the goals and policies” of the city.

The Planning Commission meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto in San Juan Capistrano. Also on the agenda is a proposal for a winery downtown.