Site Plan Approved For Monterey Taco Bell

The Site plan for Monterey’s Taco Bell received the green light from city officials Thursday.

Planning Commission Chairman Brian Eads said site preparation began earlier this month.

“This is just so exciting. Driving by there is just great,” Eads said. “I’m seeing a lot of actual work getting done. I mean a lot of work getting done. The way they are going now, they’ll be serving tacos by next week, which I’m kidding, but it will be pretty darn soon.”

The restaurant will be built at the corner of Whittacker Street and East Stratton Avenue. Planning Director Kevin Rush said he expects crews to finish the project rather quickly.

“These commercial contractors are normally pretty good,” Rush said. “They can get something thrown together, but I’m talking about quality work. It’s almost like they’re just throwing it up and it’s sticking. They can get it done pretty quickly.”

The site plan allows two ways in and out of the restaurant. Rush said one will be on Whittacker and the other on Stratton.

“When I first talked to their engineer, he wanted to come through the drive-thru and then come out (at the end of Whittacker Street). I said, that’s not going to fly at all. That’s not going to work,” Rush said. “I said, if you want to come out on Whittacker Street, you need to move it to the back side of the property and let people circle around the building and let people come out that way after they circle the drive-thru. Doing it the way they proposed would have been very similar to Dairy Queen, and that’s malfunction junction.”

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the site plan during Thursday night’s meeting.