Lombard plan commission backs drive-through restaurant retrofit at 505 W. Roosevelt

The Village of Lombard Plan Commission on Feb. 17 recommended approval of a petition to renovate the former bank at 505 West Roosevelt Road into a multi-tenant retail space anchored by a two-lane drive-through restaurant, with associated variances for existing parking and setback conditions.

The petition, filed as PC 25-04, seeks a conditional use to allow a drive-through accessory to a restaurant under Village of Lombard Zoning Ordinance §155.103(f); recognition of historic cross-parking and off-site parking arrangements under §155.602(a)(3)(b); and variances to accommodate nonconforming lot sizes, interior-side-yard standards, landscaping and parking-lot design as described in §155.417 and related code sections. The Plan Commission voted to accept staff recommendations and forward the petition to the Village Board of Trustees for final action on March 6, 2025.

Attorney Mark Daniel, representing the petitioner, said the 11-acre shopping center has long-standing cross-access covenants and that the proposal is part of a phased redevelopment of the Dania retail/warehouse site. Daniel described phased work: immediate demolition of an automotive service building this spring, a Phase 1 retrofit of roughly 30,000–40,000 square feet of existing building into restaurants/retail (including a proposed Usmania tenant), a Phase 3 rehabilitation and a proposed 50,000-square-foot banquet facility, and a Phase 4 build-out of two outlots. He said the drive-through design will provide two stacking lanes to address order and service delays observed at some single-lane sites.

Village staff told the commission the interdepartmental review committee (IDRC) reviewed the site and recommended conditions of approval, and consultant KLOA suggested minor site changes such as adding parking spaces and curbing to manage drive-through ingress and stacking. The staff report noted the property historically operated with multiple drive-through lanes when it was a bank and that the requested variances largely memorialize long-standing, pre-existing conditions caused in part by right-of-way expansions and subdivision lines dating to the 1970s.

Commission discussion centered on traffic and whether added uses (restaurants, a banquet facility, and other tenants) will eventually trigger a need for a traffic signal at the Findlay Road access. Commissioners asked KLOA and staff about signal warrants and about plans for post-occupancy evaluation. KLOA and the petitioner said they had not done a comprehensive full-site traffic projection for the entire center at full buildout but noted that many uses would have offset peak hours (for example, a drive-through peaks at lunch or weekend times, and a banquet facility would typically operate evenings). KLOA said a post-occupancy study is commonly done 6–12 months after occupancy to reassess signal warrants and intersections.

The petitioner provided several site-specific details during the hearing: Bumper 2 Burger (the proposed drive-through operator) will have 50–52 on-site parking spaces; the project team expects to accommodate required stacking (KLOA's layout fits 10 vehicles in two lanes, two above the minimum stacking standard noted); a shared waste enclosure on the 505 lot will serve both 505 and 1210 properties and will be screened per code; and certain nonconformities along Findlay and Roosevelt stem from Illinois Department of Transportation takings and multiple underground utilities that limit changes to frontage.

Commissioner Versen moved, and Commissioner Sweetser seconded, a motion that "the plan commission accept the findings of the interdepartmental review committee report as the findings of the plan commission and recommends the village board approval of PC 25-04 subject to the 6 conditions in the staff report." The roll call vote was Versen—Aye; Sweetser—Aye; Johnston—Aye; Chair Giuliano—Aye. The Plan Commission's recommendation was approved and will be forwarded to the Village Board of Trustees for final action on March 6, 2025.

What happens next: The Village Board will consider PC 25-04 on March 6, 2025. The petitioner and staff said additional traffic and site design issues tied to the larger Phase 3 banquet and parking reconfiguration will return to the Plan Commission when that phase is formally filed.