Wilmette Trustees Reject McDonald's Drive-Thru Zoning Request

WILMETTE, IL — A proposed high-volume, two-lane drive and a McDonald’s restaurant in a residential Wilmette neighborhood that has drawn public opposition won’t be built after village trustees unanimously denied a motion for a zoning variance for the fast food chain at its meeting on Tuesday night.

The board voted 6-0 to reject a request for a special-use permit that would have allowed McDonald’s to move ahead with the project, which would be built on the corner of Skokie Boulevard and Old Glenview Road.

Tuesday’s vote came after lengthy public comment and was met with heavy applause from residents, many of whom spoke at a meeting in which heightened emotions sometimes required the board's president to implore residents to refrain from reacting.

During public comment, residents voiced concerns over increased traffic that would bring between 500 to 750 cars through the drive-thru per day. Wilmette residents who previously voiced their opposition to the project claimed that the drive-thru would bring down property values, while others said that the increase in traffic would create environmental issues given the emissions of idling vehicles waiting to be served.

One Wilmette resident told the board that her family had moved to the village in 1976 and "did not move here for a McDonald's." She said that the "character" of the village as well as the quality of schools and Wilmette's proximity to Lake Michigan made it an attractive community.

"We did not come here to be every other suburb of the city and to become more citified," she told trustees.

"I don't think you would be protecting the character of the village and the property values of its residents by putting in this McDonald's — especially with a drive-thru. Nobody on Old Glenview Road or right around there expected to have their house abutting a 1,000-customer-a-day drive-thru. That was not the expectation when they bought that property, and you would be harming their (property) value by doing that."

Proponents of the project said that the village would benefit from the tax revenue that could come from the business. Others said that having the restaurant near a residential neighborhood would allow for a convenient location for breakfast food options or coffee.

In voting to reject the request, village trustees felt as if McDonald’s did not place enough emphasis on safety concerns raised by residents in terms of the added traffic that would come to the area if the project moved forward. Studies show that the intersection where McDonald’s was seeking to build is a five-lane corridor — four lanes of traffic, one turning lane — that sees 12,000 cars per day travel through.

Many of the trustees said they wanted to encourage local businesses to come to Wilmette, but decided that McDonald's did not meet the burden of proof to allow for the special-use permit for the drive-thru project.

Trustee Kathy Dodd said that like other board members, she wants Wilmette to be welcoming to business opportunities. However, she said that the location in question simply is not the right location for the kind of business McDonald’s is seeking.

“The question is, ‘Is this McDonald’s in the right spot and the right location?’,” Dodd said.

Added trustee Gerry Smith: “This is not the right opportunity and the right corner for McDonald’s.”

Ultimately, board members said that McDonald’s did not meet the guidelines for the special zoning request, siding with residents who said that the jobs that would be created by adding another business in the village were not enough to justify allowing for the zoning variance.

The area is zoned "Neighborhood Retail," which allows for drive-thrus and counter-service restaurants with a special use permit. A full-service or specialty restaurant would not require such a permit, according to the village's zoning code.

Village officials have granted all but one of the requests they received for drive-thrus at pharmacies and banks, as well as the 2005 request for the Starbucks drive-thru at 3520 Lake Ave., according to a report prepared for the board by Deputy Director of Community Development Lisa Roberts. A 1985 request for a restaurant with a drive-thru restaurant at 825 Green Bay Road was rejected.

Trustees said that while other Wilmette businesses have drive-thru windows, such as banks, coffee shops and other restaurants, the high-volume variety that McDonald's was seeking was simply too much.

"A drive-thru with this kind of volume, this kind of traffic, and this kind of potential for disrupting the neighborhood is not appropriate," trustee Gina Kennedy said.

Dodd said that while she likes the idea of a McDonald's coming to Wilmette, the Skokie Road location was not the right choice. She said that in comparison to other North Shore communities where McDonald's has locations in residential neighborhoods, this location would sit the closest to homes and other residential properties of any comparable city, village, or town.

Trustee Justin Sheperd called the placement of the proposed McDonald's problematic — a notion with which his fellow board members agreed.

Tuesday’s vote came to reject the special use request after the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4-3 to recommend the Village Board approve McDonald's permit requests as long as they close at 10 p.m. instead of 1:30 a.m., as company representatives had sought.

McDonald’s zoning attorney Jim Olguin said at Tuesday’s meeting that the fast-food chain initially predicted that McDonald's "most current and most efficient" drive-thru design would typically handle about 1,000 transactions per day. However, after the zoning board voted to approve the permit request with the reduced hours, Olguin said that the number of transactions would be reduced with 3 ½ fewer hours of daily traffic.

The design of the new McDonald’s allowed for three drive-thru windows, depending on the type of transaction.

Dodd raised the issue of how the drive-thru would affect Wilmette homeowners' property values. Olguin said that McDonald’s officials did not believe that the addition of the drive-thru would have an adverse effect on property values.

“There’s no causal relationship,” Olguin told the board.

He said the primary sources of property values going up are schools and living in a desirable community such as Wilmette. He cited studies that showed that certain businesses may benefit local property values, but could not provide enough evidence to support that would happen in this case, trustees said.

Proponents of the project said that having the vacant lot where Bakers Square once sat has affected property values. Shepherd said that like many residents, he "is sick" of seeing the empty corner where McDonald's was seeking to build, but, like his fellow trustees, decided that the project was not the right match for the location.

Dodd encouraged McDonald's to still consider Wilmette but said that a residential neighborhood just wasn't the right fit.

"I don't agree with the rhetoric that a fast-food restaurant does not belong in this community," Dodd said.

"I want to welcome anyone into this community who wants to come to this community ... I would love people to come to Wilmette for any reason, and I would not want to judge them for that."

Related:

McDonald's Drive Thru Special Use Heads To Wilmette Village Board