Neighbors Raise Concerns After McDonald's Proposed In Woodridge

WOODRIDGE, IL — Residents who live near the Woodgrove Festival Shopping Center are raising concerns over a proposal to build a 3,958 square foot McDonald's near the intersection of 75th Avenue and Lemont Road.

The Woodridge Village Board will weigh the proposal at its Feb. 1 meeting. At a planning commission meeting on Dec. 18, members reviewed a request for a special use permit for a dual drive-thru and a major amendment to the final plat and planned unit development.

The proposal includes the construction of a new outlot with 34 parking spaces, including three for McDonald's customers who are picking up mobile orders and two spots designated for accessible parking.

Also proposed is an improvement agreement between the Village of Woodridge and the project's developers, North American Real Estate (NARE), including provisions for erosion control, new storm sewer facilities and road paving.

Planning commission members were split with a 3-3 vote, in which commissioners Gaspar, Hendle-Kinnunen and Jarog voted in favor of the motion and commissioners Cortez, Przepiorka and Seelander voted against the motion.

Mike Wiet, who has lived in the 1200 block of Golfview Drive since 1989, told Patch he had not been informed about the Dec. 18 meeting by village officials. Wiet said the village is required to notify residents who live within 500 feet of the proposed development, but more residents would be affected if the McDonald's were approved.

Wiet said he and his neighbors would likely run into traffic from the McDonald's when they attempt to leave their subdivision, taking Dunham to 75th Street.

On an informational page about the proposal, village officials wrote that "75th Street is a commercial corridor and an additional commercial use here is a typical pattern of development."

“It just would be a traffic nightmare," Wiet went on, adding that "There’ve been kids hit by cars on 75th street and the additional traffic is just going to make it worse.”

This sentiment was echoed by resident Toni Cordero and other residents at the planning commission meeting.

Residents are also worried about stormwater runoff, as the restaurant's proposed location is currently used for stormwater management. If the proposal is approved, stormwater would be redirected to a vault beneath the current site.

Wiet said he was among 15 to 20 residents who attended the planning commission meeting in December to express resistance to the proposed development.

At the meeting, resident Angela Jones had expressed that she was also worried about additional flooding.

Wiet told Patch he has photographed flooding at the intersection in the wake of storms in the "a couple seasons ago."

Below is one of the images shared by Wiet, which he says he took in front of the Fannie May candy store facing "generally west and north on 75th."

Wiet said he believes an underground stormwater vault would not be efficient to accommodate runoff into the sewer system.

“It’s going to overwhelm that system," he said, "which was never designed for that kind of runoff."

Wiet said he plans to attend the meeting on Feb. 1 to express his opposition to the development.

He said, "There just isn’t space where they’re trying to shoehorn this new store in."

The Village Board meeting will be held Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. Click the link for more information.