Council OKs Special Use Permit, Rezoning For Andy's Frozen Custard
DOWNERS GROVE, IL — On Tuesday, Downers Grove Village Council members approved a redevelopment agreement, along with a special use permit and rezoning for an Andy’s Frozen Custard that is aiming to build at the intersection of Elm and Ogden.
The council voted on four items: a right-of-way vacation, a zoning map amendment, a special use permit and a redevelopment agreement. The project, which is eligible for tax increment financing (TIF) once it is complete, is estimated to yield the village $70,000 in annual revenue, according to village documents.
Petitioners Downers Grove Equity Group are seeking the special use permit to allow the Andy’s Frozen Custard to have a side-by-side drive-thru on its .96 acres of space. The right-of-way vacation applies to the alley that runs from east to west on the property’s north side. The zoning map amendment would rezone the parcel’s R-4, residential detached house zoning to B-3, general services and highway business zoning, per village documents.
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If the Andy’s Frozen Custard development moves forward, petitioners would demolish the building that currently occupies the property.
After recommendations from village staff, petitioners agreed in October to:
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As presented, the Andy’s Frozen Custard would not have indoor dining. Three windows, sheltered by a canopy, would permit customers to do walk-up orders on the building’s west side.
The proposed side-by-side drive-thru would “wrap around the west, south and east portions of the building,” accommodating as many as 17 cars, according to village documents.
Per the redevelopment agreement, Downers Grove Equity Group would receive a reimbursement of up to $1.2 million via the Ogden Avenue Tax Increment Financing Fund. The redevelopment agreement had previously been approved by Downers Grove’s Economic Development Corporation.
At Tuesday’s village council meeting, commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance to vacate the alley, along with the ordinance to rezone the property.
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Both the special use ordinance for the side-by-side drive-thru and the redevelopment agreement passed with a 6 to 1 vote. Commissioner Leslie Sadowski-Fugitt casting the lone dissenting vote for both.
“I’m not quite sold on the drive-thru and the…kind of the unwillingness to look at the Washington Avenue part, so the drive-thru and the redevelopment agreement are the two areas, where I’m struggling the most on this one,” Sadowski-Fugitt said.
The development schedule would be “contingent on the developer having a minimum 10-year lease and also that the restaurant that is located there actually opens,: Commissioner Chris Gilmartin said.
He said he believes that the development could be beneficial in the long run “It takes this blighted sight, and it turns it into a valuable and candidly tax-generating asset for our community.”
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