The golden arches could soon be seen in Downtown Turlock, as the City reviews a proposal to build a new McDonald’s near Golden State Boulevard and Center and Marshall Streets.

 Currently hosting a car lot for Bonander Buick GMC and a local taco truck, the proposed site for the fast food restaurant is currently still under review by the City’s Planning Department after being contacted by McDonald’s with a request to build the new location.

Due to the standard McDonald’s design of the original proposal, Planning Director Debbie Whitmore says that the Planning Department’s review may take additional time due to the strict design guidelines of Downtown Turlock that aims to maintain the district’s historical characteristics.

According to Whitmore, should McDonald’s developers be willing to make the requested changes to reflect the Downtown Turlock design guidelines, the proposed project could be approved at the staff level with no action required by the Turlock Planning Commission or City Council.

Should McDonald’s reject the required design guidelines and continue to insist on their standard restaurant design for the project, Whitmore says that the issue could be presented to city officials regarding whether or not to move forward with the proposed development.

“It really depends on the developer and the will of the Council,” said Whitmore as to whether or not staff could approve the project. “Should they decide that this is something that needs a closer review, or have additional, specific guidelines they’d like to see then it would certainly be presented to them for a decision. But at this point it’s still under review within the Planning Department.”