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Board approves rezoning for drive-through 7Brew coffee on Appleton Avenue after traffic and aesthetics debate
Summary
The board considered a rezoning request for two parcels at N82W15449 Appleton Ave. to allow a 530-square-foot, drive-through-only 7Brew Coffee shop with two drive lanes and a 250-square-foot freezer. Planning and architectural reviews were discussed; trustees debated traffic safety and aesthetics before approving the overlay rezoning.
The Village Board held a public hearing and approved an ordinance to rezone two parcels at N82W15449 Appleton Avenue (tax key 004.3996 and 004.3996.007) from C-1 Neighborhood Business to C-1 with the OC-5 Commercial Service Overlay, permitting a proposed 7Brew drive-through coffee shop.
Village clerk staff summarized the Planning Commission recommendation and the architectural review board's recent input (the Architectural Review Board required a service door relocation and additional landscaping). The applicant proposed a 530-square-foot coffee building with an adjacent 250-square-foot freezer and two drive-through lanes. The site plan shows a single combined driveway entrance (across from a median opening on Appleton Avenue) and a shared-parking agreement with the adjacent parcel; the applicant noted one parcel is inside a TID and cannot be combined until the district closes.
Tommy Pennington, the operator for 7Brew in eastern Wisconsin, testified that the project's stacking is consistent with other 7Brew locations and that the 45-car figure in the traffic materials represents a per-hour flow rather than a single-time queue; he said typical stacking at 7Brew sites is roughly 21 cars. JJ Liley, representing the property owner, said the site already functions as a drive-through for the bank and that redevelopment would improve an underused parcel.
Trustees debated traffic circulation and safety: several trustees said the site is appropriate for a drive-through and pointed to comparable nearby sites (McDonald's, Burger King, Dunkin', Starbucks) and a left-turn lane proposed for the northern entrance. Other trustees raised safety concerns about u-turns and interior circulation, and one trustee said they had been the lone vote against the project at the Planning Commission primarily because of traffic and internal flow concerns.
Staff explained the property meets buffer and lighting requirements (including a 100-foot separation from residential zoning where applicable) and that the Architectural Review Board's requirements were incorporated in the plans submitted to the board.
After public testimony and trustee discussion, Trustee Papp moved to approve the rezoning ordinance; the motion was seconded and the board voted by voice. The motion carried.
