While decisions on the exact shape of the combination restaurant and fuel stop are still in final stages of design, an application for driveway easement is already on file with the town.
“To be truthfully honest, I don’t know yet that we have a ground break date,” said Jennifer Sterbens with the regional real estate office for McDonald’s in Raleigh.
The company began combining restaurant operations with fuel centers a few years ago. An earlier plan for Carthage met with praise and approval from the town Planning Board, but hit a roadblock when negotiations with a fuel partner apparently fell through.
That original site would have been at the former Carthage Farm Supply.
Now, a lot next to Kerr Drug and across from Food Lion in Kimberly Park Shopping Center will one day be dispensing Big Macs along with fill-ups, according to Sterbens. The company will choose a plan to fit its new lot.
“They have two different prototypes they have ordered,” said Carthage Town Manager Carol Cleetwood. “They sent for them two weeks ago and said then that the process would take three to four weeks.
“Their fuel partner is going to be Albemarle Oil Company.”
Based on that, Cleetwood expects McDonald’s could be able to make a new request to the Planning Board in a couple of weeks.
The next board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 2.
“At that meeting, we are planning to be at Little River for a guided tour of the condo and clubhouse under construction,” she said. “Members of the public are welcome to come along and take part in the tour.”
More details should be forthcoming in the next week or so, according to McDonald’s spokesperson Kim McKeeman.
“I apologize, but a lot of the folks working on this are not in the office this week,” she said. “We can’t say just when we will be serving Big Macs in Carthage, at least not yet.”
But their famous French fries are definitely on the way, McKeeman said.
