Drive-Thru, Office Building Campus Approved At Long-Vacant Corner

LAKE FOREST, IL — The City Council Monday granted a request to build a commercial development with a drive-thru coffee shop at the southeast corner of Waukegan and Everett roads in west Lake Forest.

The proposal approved by aldermen calls for a three-story medical office building and a small retail building with a drive-thru to be built north and south of an existing office building at 1025 Everett Road. Plan commissioners voted 5-2 last month to recommend approval of the project. At its first reading before the City Council Monday, the ordinance granting a special permit for the project received unanimous support, while one to approve the design aspects was approved 7-1.

Mayor George Pandaleon said the plan represented a strong step forward for the city. He thanked the developer for their thoughtfulness and willingness to engage the residents of the neighborhood.

"After a very long and difficult series of experiences with this property, we now have something that is viable and will, I think, be a credit to the community and form a nice entry point for people coming from the south," Pandaleon said after the vote, "and really define what has been an eyesore for 13 years as a proper entrance to Lake Forest."

The site has been vacant since the departure of an Amoco gas station and the Pasquesi garden supply store in 2008. City officials approved a redevelopment plan for the site, but, due to the Great Recession, it did not proceed. A 2015 proposal for a gas station, car wash and convenience store was unanimously rejected by aldermen in 2018.

A new development group purchased the property in 2019. The new ownership group, led by Carmine Iosue, already owned the office building to the east and has combined it with the vacant parcel to create a 2.3-acre development site. The owner has been in discussions with multiple tenants and expects to sign leases soon after city approve to begin construction later this year, according to city staff.

The plan needed a special use permit and the approval of alderman because it included first-floor professional offices in a business district, fell short of the required number of parking spaces called for the city's zoning codes, encroached on the 20-foot required setback from Waukegan Road and included a drive-thru.

While special permits for drive-thrus are usually granted to operators rather than property owners, in this case the owner will be responsible for complying with the limitations of the permit and making sure that only a coffee shop is able to use the drive-thru. If any other type of business wants to use it, they'll need a new permit.

"Coffee shops have always preferred drive-thrus," said Cathy Czerniak, director of community development. "In today's climate, a drive-thru is really mandatory for a coffee shop."

Ald. Ray Buschmann and Ald. Eileen Weber, the two City Council members who represent the southwest Lake Forest 4th Ward where the site is located, raised questions about the development during the discussion. Weber was the lone vote against the design aspects of the site Monday at its first reading before aldermen.

Jack Frigo, a real estate advisor appearing on behalf of the developer, addressed concerns about the height of the building. The main mass of the planned building as approved is just under 40 feet, with a center element rising to 49 feet. He said an earlier draft design considered a gable roof more in line with the existing structure, but it wound up being too tall.

"There are some key parts that complement one another, but we're not trying to make the building look like the 1025 [West Everett] building. But we feel like it's very compatible because of the materials," Frigo said. He said he expected area residents would find it very appealing.

"This is an entrance to an important part of the community," he said. "And I think this is an important structure that helps identify that entrance."

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At last month's meeting, Plan Commission Chair Rosemary Kehr said she was satisfied that there would be sufficient parking spaces for the site, in light of the hundreds of spaces available at the nearby train station and church lots.

"I'm sure we will continue to assess the parking," Kehr said ahead of the vote at the Feb. 10 plan commission meeting. "But for what has been a very difficult site, I'm looking to seeing this particular development moving forward, and I'm also looking forward to either federal or state money to make the improvements to the Waukegan Road-Everett Road intersection."

Commissioner John Dixon said the developer had done an excellent job of improving the traffic plan and parking lot layout in response to feedback from the commissioner and city staff.

"I think this will be a nice improvement to that corridor to the city, which has been long a focus of this commission and certainly of an objective of the city," Dixon said.

According to city staff, commissioners heard general support for the development from neighbors during the hearing process. The Building Review Board also voted unanimously to recommend the design aspects of the development.

Susan Athenson, one of the two plan commissioners who recommended against approval, expressed concerns about the safety of the parking lot, the walkability of the development and height of the office building.

"I really think the development is an improvement to this site, of course, and it's so much better than a car wash," Athenson said. "I just don't think that we go far enough in what could have been achieved in a more pedestrian-oriented site."

Earlier: Lake Forest City Council Rejects Car Wash Proposal