in the landscaping. Regarding the parking, he echoed the the fact that |
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McDonald’s knew its business, and if there was not enough, they would |
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lose sales. He agreed that the idea to share parking with the neighbors |
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should be pursued to see if it could work. If the employees could be |
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moved to offsite parking, it would free spots for customers, which he felt |
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would be good to implement. He wholly supported the access to the |
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Lifetime Fitness drive. He could see people exiting that way, avoiding |
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Rochester Rd. and going out to Avon. He strongly recommended that |
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they try to work on that agreement. He asked if they explored making the |
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Lifetime drive the main access to the site. Mr. Martin said that typically, |
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when McDonald’s looked for real estate, they wanted access to a major |
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road. About 80% of the customers bought impulsively - it was not a |
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destination point. McDonald’s tried to locate where there was traffic, |
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residences and commercial businesses. If there was an easy way of |
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getting in, there was more likelihood of getting customers. An access off |
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of a secondary road would not be as appealing. They did not look at that |
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as an option, and they did not know if they could use their drive. Mr. |
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Hooper noted how busy it was to try to turn left out of McDonald’s because |
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of the constant conflicts. Regarding lighting, he recalled an experience |
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with the Burger King on Crooks. He assumed McDonald's would not |
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increase the intensity of the lighting. Mr. Martin said they were proposing |
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LED lights. There would be very low footcandles at the pavement, but the |
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amount of light perceived would be greater than what a metal halide |
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offered. The fixtures would be faced downward, and he did not feel there |
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would be an issue with the lighting. Mr. Hooper asked if they would be |
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shoebox fixtures, and if the intensity would be five footcandles or less. |
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Mr. Martin said they ranged from three to four on the ground, and the |
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poles would be 24 feet high. Mr. Hooper recalled that Burger King had |
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intensities of over 10. He welcomed Mr. Saputo, and thanked him for |
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doing business in Rochester Hills. |
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Mr. Dettloff asked if the hours of operation were dictated through |
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corporate or the owner’s decision. Mr. Saputo said that corporate pushed |
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it, but he accepted any challenge from McDonald’s. They looked |
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favorably on owners trying to grow the business every part of the day. Mr. |
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Martin asked if only the drive-thru would be open 24 hours. Mr. Saputo |
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agreed. Mr. Dettloff asked what percentage of the business came |
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between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m., and Mr. Saputo informed that it was under |
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