McDonald's is seeking to build a new location in Melville.

McDonald's is seeking to build a new location in Melville. Credit: Getty Images/Kenzo Tribouillard

McDonald’s USA LLC is seeking to open a 4,388-square-foot drive-through restaurant on half of an empty lot on Route 110 in Melville.

The company has an application before the Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals seeking a parking variance and variances for the area, number and size regarding signs for the project, and a special-use permit to build a drive-through restaurant.

The about 2.4-acre parcel is owned by Farmingdale-based FMP Holdings LLC. The 71-seat restaurant would have two drive-through lanes placed side by side and would be built on slightly less than 60 percent of the vacant lot. It’s not yet clear what will be built on the other half of the parcel, said John C. Farrell, the attorney representing McDonald’s USA LLC before the ZBA.

Town code requires 126 parking spaces for the use and size of the building, but McDonald’s USA LLC is asking for a variance to allow only 47, because most of the business will be drive-through. John Harter, a traffic expert for the company, said up to 70 percent of the restaurant’s business during peak hours will go through the “unique” side-by-side drive-through lanes, so less parking is needed.

“If you look at older McDonald’s, they may have 50 or more stalls, but now as we have gone forward in the last 10 years with this type of drive-through design, they are bringing the count way down. In some cases generally it’s below 40 in most of the sites we are looking at, so 47 here is high for McDonald’s,” Harter said at a recent ZBA meeting.

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