DOWNERS GROVE, IL — The Downers Grove Village Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a proposal for a Dutch Bros. Coffee at the intersection of Saratoga and Ogden Avenues.
The Dutch Bros. Coffee plans were met with resistance from residents who expressed concerns over traffic and pedestrian safety, as the site is near Herrick Middle School.
Dutch Bros. requested a planned unit development, an alley vacation, a special use permit to allow a drive-thru and a zoning map amendment.
The vote, initially planned for Aug. 18, had been delayed until the Sept. 8 meeting to allow the village council to get more information about how traffic from nearby schools and how projected vehicle stacking might affect traffic from the development.
The village's planning and zoning commission reviewed the proposal at its July 6 meeting and voted 5 to 1 recommend denial.
During Tuesday's meeting, Commissioner Rob Roe said he'd visited the Melrose Park Dutch Bros. and experienced 17-minute wait times and stacking of up to 30 cars.
"All that's going to be contained," Roe said. "If this project can be contained where it needs to be and it's not going to be leaking onto Saratoga or Ogden," Roe said, he doesn't anticipate seeing the congestion residents have raised concerns about.
A representative for Dutch Bros. said a Darien Dutch Bros. location would be open by the time the Downers Grove location will be open, which should help alleviate the traffic.
Mayor Bob Barnett emphasized that the Dutch Bros. proposal aligns with use of the property that is permitted in the Downers Grove village code.
Addressing residents who may be disappointed in the. vote, Mayor Barnett said, "there are perhaps dozens of elements of this plan that are now different —I would say better— as a function of your input, so thank you for that."
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