The Crestwood Planning and Zoning Commission held a special meeting to correct a staff-initiated error with the McDonald’s siding on August 30. The McDonald’s, 9915 Watson Road, was Missouri’s first location, built in 1959 along Route 66. It is currently undergoing renovations

The error occurred when reviewing the plan for the main McDonald’s site in July 2021. At the time the commission approved the plan with brick masonry veneer and metal panel cladding on parts of the building . Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff submitted construction drawings with fiber cement siding instead of masonry. John Cruz, an urban planner at the time, approved the permit “in error”, allowing McDonald’s to continue with the cement surfacing. The petitioner began installing the new surfacing in July, but received a partial stoppage order in August when city staff noticed the error.

“This is a high stakes situation for me, one I didn’t really expect. After the initial shock of the stop order, everyone I’ve come in contact with has been professional more than courteous,” Franchisee Nolan Ruiz said.

To correct the error, McDonald’s submitted an amended site plan with plans for Nichiha CanyonBrick fiber cement cladding, aluminum panels around parts of the building, and new matching brick on the dumpster enclosure. Nichiha is a faux brick cladding.

Jim Klein, representing the petitioner, said the stop order and the change in plans will cost at least $126,000 and weeks to build. The new opening is scheduled for September 29.

The commissioners were fine with Nichiha’s new surfacing, since masonry is impossible at this stage of the project, but wanted to ensure that it would be maintained regularly.

“The Nichiha product… is a very durable product. It looks decent, can fool you by looking like brick, but when you go to touch it, it doesn’t look like brick,” Commissioner Greg Zipfel said. “The look of the brick is really in the finish and the finish is not a through-body finish. If the surface is scratched, stained or chipped it will reveal the fiber cement behind it.

Zipfel suggested a condition to require maintenance of the siding, but utility manager Jim Gillam said that would be redundant with the code’s enforcement duties. Gillam said maintenance would rely on staff reviewing the site and deciding when they need an update.

The commission voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the change of aldermen.