Anybody see this yet? It was certainly a surprising sight while waiting in the drive-through at McDonald’s.

While I was getting coffee at the London Road McDonald’s, I noticed signs popping up from the other side of the fence.

35 Comments

jessige

about 13 years ago

They've been there quite a while.  Every time I see them I want to hold up a sign that says, "Whining and bitching and pissing, oh my!"

Nooneyouknow

about 13 years ago

"Whining and bitching and pissing, oh my!"

Which is pretty much what eating at Mickie D's gets you.

Tom

about 13 years ago

Why do I get the feeling this is the doing of the residents of Jefferson St. who were pissed off about the landscaping of the property during construction?

peaceNic

about 13 years ago

When my husband and I were first moving into the area last year, I was anxiously anticipating what new business was being constructed on the corner. I began imagining all the possibilities. To my disappointment and dismay, it ended up being McDonald's. Although, I hadn't noticed them myself, I like the signs.

Claire

about 13 years ago

Good for them! I'm sure it's the neighbors indulging in some grassroots protesting. More power to them. I know some of those neighbors and it's a real shame about the trees being cut down between their homes and McDonalds.

zra

about 13 years ago

on a totally unrelated note: anyone excited for the new ice cream and hotdog stand opening up in the old DQ on London?

they've been fixing the place up for the last couple of months, and now they've got all the glass replaced with some slick low E tinted windows.

i asked the guy who owns the DQ in the mall why it was sitting vacant, and he said something about the size of the lot and the building design not fitting in with DQ's current retail model. they must have decided to unload the property, finally...

i also asked him what the secret was when making dipped cones. how in the world do they keep the ice cream from falling out of the cone and into the sauce.

his reply: "physics."

[email protected]

about 13 years ago

1.  I'm not sure why someone cutting down trees on property they own is worth protesting.  Can someone help me out?  No one is preventing these folks from planting privacy trees on their own property, are they?
2.  Presumably that land has been zoned commercial for decades.  This is the inherent risk of buying residential property adjacent to commercial property?

I'm neither pro-Mcds nor anti (I eat there once a month).  But it seems like a grand bit of silliness.

[email protected]

about 13 years ago

Yes, I am greatly excited for the new ice cream shoppe

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/203956/

Danny G

about 13 years ago

So, are "greed" and "trees" supposed to rhyme there?

The lame part to me (other than the poor rhyming) is the references to McD's greasy, unhealthy food.  What does that have to do with the remodeling?  It's not like the menu became less healthy when they opened the new place.

girlfromnorthcountry

about 13 years ago

one would think that having an improved view of the lake would be desirable.  That McDonald's has been there forever, the residents knew what they were moving into.  Damn, Duluthians sure love to complain.

Nooneyouknow

about 13 years ago

one would think that having an improved view of the lake would be desirable. That McDonald's has been there forever, the residents knew what they were moving into. Damn, Duluthians sure love to complain.

Yeah they sure do, don't they?

Forrest Vodden

about 13 years ago

@[email protected]#1 I too don't understand. McDonalds planted new trees along the property line. Once they grow in, I would think that any privacy will be restored.

Bad Cat!

about 13 years ago

Though I love personal protest of corporate identities, I think their arguments are a bit weak.

The tree argument is that they cut down fully-grown trees and replaced them with new trees (which are not yet fully-grown). The the neighbors that lived there said the larger trees blocked the noise and view of the McD's.
I can understand it's disappointing to see full-grown trees removed, but it is on their property, so I guess McD's can do what they want, and it's nice that they replanted some new ones when they didn't have to.

As far as the stolen land, I find it highly unlikely that a large corp like McD's, the highly-paid architects they would hire, and the city code commissioners would have made a property line mistake and build on land that wasn't theirs.
I think the most likely explanation is that McD's wasn't using a portion of their property in the old design, so the neighbor just thought it was his. Once they reclaimed the unused portion, neighbor freak out.

The Big E

about 13 years ago

High comedy.  Not likely to amount to much, but maybe the Clown should've sought to  be a better neighbor.

zra

about 13 years ago

if i'm reading this correctly, my bitchy neighbor can thus protest the razing of my garage and the building of an 8X10 shed and playhouse for my kids.

there are other options to complaining about things you can't control. while McD's removal of the old trees to facilitate newer construction indeed sucks, there really isn't anything that they can *legally* do about it save putting up a privacy fence of their own.

Swan

about 13 years ago

I am still pissed they tore down the mini-golf course to put up the original McDonalds.

Claire

about 13 years ago

I've been inside a neighbor's house both before and after the trees were cut down. Big difference in terms of the lights at night and the noise from outside. But then, like someone wrote, they did move next to a commercial area. Still sucks for the people living there. THose new trees can't grow in fast enough.

James

about 13 years ago

I think it's funny that so many people feel the need to stick up for McDonalds.  Yeah...poor McDonalds.  Let's make sure we take care of them so they can keep getting us all fat with their shitty food...

Forrest Vodden

about 13 years ago

@James: It's not about sticking up for McDonalds or not. I'm fairly certain that all of us here can agree that most of their food is not healthy. The only reason I generally go there is for coffee. 

A lot of this discussion has been about whether or not McDonalds as a business has done anything illegal or immoral in this specific case. As far as I can tell, what they did was within their rights. They even went above and beyond what was necessary by planting new trees.

Granted, I can understand why a property owner would feel anger towards McDonalds. But to put these signs up (especially the obesity one) seems to be misplaced effort.

jessige

about 13 years ago

What I find ridiculous about them is that they accomplish exactly nothing.  Like someone's going to be pulling up to the speaker, see the signs, and say, "WHAT?!  YOU MEAN THIS SHIT'S BAD FOR ME?!" and leave?

I love this town, God knows, but there's a contingent in it that has more than a little self-righteousness.

zra

about 13 years ago

i don't think anyone's really sticking up for McD's, and no one is *forced* to go to McDonald's and eat their shitty food.

the legalities of the situation don't take into account the neighbor's feelings on the subject, nor should they. private property and zoning codes permit everything they have done up to this point. Had the trees been on the other side of the line, they'd still be there. as it stands, they weren't and are now gone.

likewise, the new nine story hotel that is going up on Park Point is legal, according to the zoning codes set up by the city planners. you don't *have* to like it. had the city given the owner the variance to annex adjacent property, the hotel would have been less likely to obstruct the view of its neighbors.

PL

about 13 years ago

"I love this town, God knows, but there's a contingent in it that has more than a little self-righteousness."

Amen.

Conrad

about 13 years ago

Mcdonalds had the right to tear those trees down, just as those neighbors have a right to bitch.  

Like mentioned before, you buy a house near a commercial area, you should know that this type of thing is possible.  You have the right to bitch but it is a bit tacky.

Bad Cat!

about 13 years ago

I'm not sticking up for McDonald's, I'm sticking up for logic - big difference.

TimK

about 13 years ago

IF they didn't have the "tree signs," and only had the "grease-obesity-oh my" signs, this thread would be completely different.

hbh1

about 13 years ago

Look, it might have been legal for McD's to cut down those trees. However, was it logical? What was the point? The trees were on the other side of the fence, and there was no reason to rip them out. Aesthetically, they were better than the nothing that is there now. 

People can do what they want on their property, for the most part. But when people rip out healthy trees that provide privacy and a sound barrier, there's nothing wrong with someone saying "WTF?" is there? I mean, okay, they went to some lengths to stop it, and now there's a protest sign. *shrugs* At least they've found a way to channel their anger.

Shane

about 13 years ago

According to a Duluth News Tribune article. McDonald's removed the trees as they were growing under/close to the power lines.

Supposing they left the trees and during a storm one fell over and took out the power lines. Imagine the whining then.

spy1

about 13 years ago

I want cutouts of people standing there with their arms crossed.

jessige

about 13 years ago

I want a cutout of Ronald McDonald standing there with his arms crossed.  Possibly accompanied by Grimace, Birdie, Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar.

Rubble rubble.

hbh1

about 13 years ago

Ah yes. That's right. Evil trees *might* fall on something. Cut 'em all down.

jake

about 13 years ago

I wish I lived next to a McDonalds's.

BoB

about 13 years ago

Vegas odds of what will knock down power lines in Duluth next:

Tree behind McDonald's: 250-1
Lightning strike: 3-1
Ice-covered tree limb: 4-1
Retarded squirrel: 6-1
Inflated self-worth of Danny: Even money
Corporatist conspiracy masterminded by Dave Sorenson: 9-4
Incompetent city union worker: 2-1
PDD server overload: 500-1
A Sharla Gardner excuse: 10-1
A Todd Fedora meltdown: 9-1
Mayor Ness' campaign bus: 100-1

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