By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The opening of a new McDonald's appears to be about three months away.
On Wednesday, members of the City of Niles Planning Commission voted 7-0 to approve the final site plan for the rebuilding of the Niles McDonald's.
Ken Stroke, the project manager for the new restaurant, presented the board with the final plans and said they would like to begin construction as soon as possible.
Stroke anticipates the opening of the fast food restaurant to take place about 90 days after the project begins.
He explained some minor changes, which concern traffic flow and business efficiency, have been made in plans for the new building.
After hearing concerns from city officials, the plans have been changed to include a right turn only exit on to S. 11th Street and a bypass lane in front of the building to allow customers to maneuver through the parking lot more effectively.
The changes regarding business efficiency include a smaller dining area and a dual order point system for drive-thru customers.
Stroke said the dual order points will allow the restaurant to process about 80 percent more business than they could with a single order point.
The old restaurant had about 115 seats, the new plan proposes 98 seats with 80 in the dining area and 18 in the play place, he said.
The size of the play structure and the number of seats it contains will also be slightly smaller than the old play place.
Now that the project has the planning commission's approval, McDonald's officials are awaiting word from the building department before they can begin work.