The golden arches are already erected and drive-through customers arrive around the clock, but neighbors near a new McDonald’s on East Colfax Avenue are still fighting the restaurant.
The neighborhood group, nicknamed McMad, unsuccessfully fought to keep the fast-food giant from getting city approval to build at East Colfax between Krameria and Leyden Streets.
But group members are not finished.
On Thursday, they filed a brief in Denver district court asking a judge to make Denver’s zoning administrator and the Board of Adjustment reconsider the decision.
John Lebsack, who lives near the restaurant, said the primary hope now is that someone can stop the fast-food joint from operating 24 hours a day. He said that since McDonald’s opened, Park Hill and Mayfair residents have seen an increase in traffic and trash in the neighborhood and the lighting has been annoying.
“And we can smell it all the time,” Lebsack said. “We can smell the fries, and we can smell the burgers.”
City Attorney Cole Finegan said he could not comment specifically on McMad’s brief because his office had not received it. But he said McDonald’s was able to build because the area was zoned for such a restaurant.
“McDonald’s is entitled to build its restaurant as a ‘use by right’ under our zoning code,” Finegan said. “We understand that the neighbors are frustrated, but we must abide by the law.”
The developer, Jon Hauser, declined to comment.
Neighbors have been fretting about the McDonald’s since plans were drawn up in early 2004. Signs proclaiming “We’re not loving it” – a twist on the McDonald’s slogan – dotted the lawns in the Park Hill and Mayfair neighborhoods. Residents and some members of the Denver City Council said the drive- through did not mesh with Blueprint Denver’s emphasis on pedestrian-friendly development.
“All that we have asked for all along is that due process be followed – that everybody’s rights be respected,” said Sandra Adams, who lives near the restaurant.
The brief states that residents felt the Board of Adjustment “rubber stamped” the McDonald’s proposal, and Adams agreed.
“That was a train wreck,” she said.
Still, she said, the process has brought the neighborhood together.
“I have been astounded by the care and concern in my neighborhood,” she said. “We have the most amazing neighbors, but that kind of makes it worse.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-820-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
