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Developers seek approval to convert closed BMO Harris building into Scooter’s Coffee drive-through
Summary
Grit and Grind LLC presented plans to retrofit a closed BMO Harris building at 790 W. Lincoln Highway into a Scooter’s Coffee drive-through-only location; the item was presented as a study-session overlay-district petition and will return for preliminary review.
A developer team presented plans to repurpose the former BMO Harris Bank at 790 West Lincoln Highway into a Scooter’s Coffee drive-through, telling the Schererville Plan Commission on Feb. 3 that the project is a retrofit of the existing building and will return for formal overlay-district review next month.
James Huss of DVG Team Inc. represented Grit and Grind LLC, which has closed on the property. He said the proposal removes the bank’s canopy and the building’s triangular vestibule, retains the rectangular footprint and adds a drive-through pickup protrusion on the northwest face. Huss said the site would be lightly modified and that landscaping revisions have been submitted. "The whole canopy will be gone," he said, adding the site would retain conduits in case an ATM partner later requested an island installation.
Huss said Scooter’s Coffee locations operate as drive-through-only establishments and described plans to accommodate vehicle queuing; he said the drive-through lane can hold several cars within its stripe limits and that employee parking would be minimal. He said the applicant submitted a full engineering set for town review, which is ongoing, and expects to return for a preliminary overlay hearing the following month and later for secondary approval.
Commissioners asked about a bypass lane, dumpster placement and signage. Huss said the site does not include a bypass lane for the drive-through and confirmed the dumpster would be screened and located near the northernmost corner of the site. Commissioner Tom Curtis urged that dumpster lids be kept closed to reduce complaints from neighbors to the north.
The developer said typical Scooter’s hours for the location would be 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and that construction could potentially be completed by the end of the year if approvals proceed on the applicant’s timeline.
The commission did not take a formal vote at the study-session presentation; the project will return for preliminary and then secondary overlay-district hearings.
