A 'Foreboding Look' For Burr Ridge Restaurants?

BURR RIDGE, IL – A restaurant in Burr Ridge's County Line Square proposes an enclosure for outdoor dining.

Capri Express, 114 Burr Ridge Parkway, is seeking to enclose the area out front with black fabric walls. The area already has four tables, seating 16 people.

On Monday, the village's Plan Commission is set to consider the request.

Jonny Cab's restaurant and nightclub, which is also in County Line Square, has made a similar request to the commission, which plans to take it up Dec. 18.

Capri Express, which is not connected to the nearby Capri Ristorante, said it wants to use the enclosure in the winter.

During a meeting last month, Plan Commission Chairman Greg Trzupek's statement on such enclosures was read into the record. He said allowing them year-round was contrary to having outdoor dining regulations.

He said if the commission believed such enclosures were in Burr Ridge's best interest, the village should establish that in its code, rather than address the issue on a case-by-case basis.

Village records show five residents expressed opposition to enclosures for outdoor dining.

"These black enclosures destroy the openness of the mall, give a funereal and foreboding look, and create blight," Davis said in an email late last month to the village. "The proliferation of year-round, enclosed 'outdoor dining' structures outside restaurants serves only to make County Line Square less inviting, not more so."

Another resident, Karen Elizabeth Phillipp, said the village should leave the architecture of County Line Square alone.

"I have lived in Burr Ridge since 1987 and the quality of the mall is becoming solely for entertainment," she said. "Brick and mortar stores are struggling."