ITEM 5.A. MCDONALD’S USA 2111 MIDWEST ROAD AMENDMENT TO SPECIAL USE AND PARKING VARIATION INDEX PAGE CONTENTS 5-5.d Staff Report dated June 16, 2021 4 Certificate of Publication dated June 14, 2021 3-3.a Resident Letter dated June 15, 2021 2 Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes dated June 7, 2021 (not included) 1 Referral Memo – Board of Trustees Agenda dated June 7, 2021 ******************* A Application B-B.2 Letter of Explanation and McDonald’s USA Approval C-C.1 Variation Standards D McDonald’s USA, LLC Approval E-E.2 Surrounding Property Owners List F-F.1 Subject Property Verification G Fee/Receipt H-H.4 Transporter Pickup Station Elevations I Site Plan Details (Included not attached) Site Plan (C1) Core States Group Preliminary CoreStates Elevation Drawing dated March 2021 (A2.0) Vehicle Turn Exhibit (EX-1) McDonald’s Resubdivison Plat VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Plan Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals STAFF REPORT DATE: June 16, 2021 CASE NO: 2021-08-ZO-SU DESCRIPTION: Special Use Permit – Amend the approved site plan to add an Order Ahead Lane (OAL). PETITIONER: Core States Group 6500 Chippewa Street, Suite 200 Saint Louis, MO 63109 PROPERTY OWNER: McDonalds USA, LLC 711 Jorie Blvd., 3rd Floor Oak Brook, IL 60523 ADDRESS: 2111 Midwest Road EXISTING ZONING: B-3 General Business District ZONING/USE OF SURROUNDING PROPERTY: North: B-3, General Business District and improved with a professional office building. South: B-3 General Business District and improved with Chase Bank. East: B-3 General Retail in Oakbrook Terrace and improved with a commercial shopping center. R-1 Single-Family Detached in Oakbrook Terrace and improved with a cul-de-sac and street parking for the Dorothy Drennon Park owned and operated by the Oakbrook Terrace Park District. West: B-3 General Retail in Oakbrook Terrace and improved with a gas station/convenience store/video gaming business. STAFF REPORT – MCDONALDS USA, LLC SPECIAL USE AMENDMENT CASE NO. 2021-08-ZO-SU CONTROLLING AGREEMENTS: Ordinance S-448: Special use for a drive-thru establishment (1980). Ordinance 2009-ZO-SU-EX1-S-1255: Special use for two (2) drive-thru lanes and outdoor seating area Ordinance 2009-ZO-V-EX1-S-1257: Sign variation and parking reduction from 79 to 52 spaces. DISCUSSION: Core States Group has submitted a petition on behalf of McDonald’s USA, LLC requesting approval of an amendment to a special use permit and a parking variation to add an Order Ahead Lane (OAL) in the restaurant drive-thru area. The property is zoned B-3 General Business District and previously received a special use permit in 2009 in accordance with Ordinance S-1255. This request would somewhat alter the existing site configuration for the McDonald’s restaurant by modifying the parking layout to the north of the building to allow the OAL and a separate one-way access lane for customers not using the drive-thru. The parking layout adjacent to the OAL has been modified and the trash enclosure has been relocated further east on the site as part of the proposed project. All existing ingress/egress to the site will remain as-is. A parking variation is also being requested to reduce the number of off-street parking spaces located on-site from 54 spaces to 45 spaces. Restaurant Operations: McDonald’s has seen shifts in their business during the pandemic. With dining room closures, customers have adapted to drive-thru and digital channels. The OAL innovation that will be tested is a direct result of this trend in digital growth to provide customers with easy, contactless convenience. McDonald’s has previously removed eight (8) seats at this restaurant since it re-opened in 2009. This was due to a 3rd drive-thru window being added in 2013 and in 2018 when self-order kiosks and front service counter areas were remodeled. Also, this restaurant anticipates investing in a full dining room remodel next year (in 2022). As part of that design planning, seating count and dining space will be further evaluated. The proposed parking count does meet McDonald’s parking standards for a restaurant of this size and seating capacity. Special Use: In the B-3 district, Section 13-7C-2 of the zoning ordinance permits drive-thru establishments as a permitted special use. The previous approval included the modification/installation of two (2) drive- through lanes and an outdoor dining area. The current request is an amendment to the previously approved special use permit. A separate OAL has been proposed to be installed parallel to the drive- through lane on the north side of the restaurant. This additional lane will require site modifications that reduce the parking count on-site and converts some of the diagonal parking spaces to parallel parking spaces. The existing trash enclosure will also be relocated further east on-site to better manage/maintain parking and the site circulation. Off-Street Parking: The OAL will require that the parking spaces on the north side of the restaurant be redesigned. The revised site design includes a reduction in the number of parking spaces from 51 to 45 spaces and the replacement of diagonal spaces with parallel spaces. The petitioner has indicated that the number of 2 STAFF REPORT – MCDONALDS USA, LLC SPECIAL USE AMENDMENT CASE NO. 2021-08-ZO-SU customer trips to the restaurant is not expected to change. The petitioner has indicated that the OAL is a direct response to the pandemic and the evolving customer dining preference. Traffic/Site Circulation: Midwest Road is a DuPage County roadway that has traffic control signals at Butterfield Road and 22nd Street and both signals are operated by IDOT. Midwest Road has seen modest redevelopment in the last few years especially in Oakbrook Terrace with both a gas station/convenience/video gaming business being constructed across the street and Stan’s Donuts north and west of the McDonald’s restaurant. Actual site circulation for the McDonald’s property is counter-clockwise with two (2) separate driveways being provided on Midwest Road. The southern driveway is for entering “only”. The northern driveway has three (3) lanes for entry-in, left turn out only and right-turn/straight ahead. Side-by-side ordering lanes are provided on-site and these lanes merge into a single-lane prior to reaching the drive-through pick up windows. Cross access easements were negotiated and recorded with Chase Bank in 2009 to provide ingress/egress between McDonald’s and the bank property. One driveway is located on the east side of the parking lot and another on the west side of the parking lot. These driveways allow for alternative access options to and from McDonald’s to better distribute vehicle traffic and provide customers with another route to get to and from 22nd Street to enter/exit the site. Additional parking is also “available” due to the cross access permissions but parking is not specifically identified in the easement agreement. Some traffic safety comments were raised at the Board referral meeting on June 7, 2021 concerning vehicle egress from the restaurant. These comments were socialized with Core States Group, the Village Engineer and the Police Department in advance of this Plan Commission meeting. The concerns were discussed amongst those parties but no additional traffic control solutions were discovered at this time to improve vehicle safety in/out of the restaurant. Landscaping: The revised drive aisle/parking configuration and relocation of the trash enclosure should incorporate some additional landscaping along the north property line. Since the trash enclosure is being relocated further east, a mature deciduous tree will be removed as a result. Additional landscape screening should be required in the northeast corner of the property to replace the deciduous tree and soften the “aesthetic” of the relocated trash enclosure. The trash enclosure will also need to be screened with a fence/wall of a material that matches/compliments the existing restaurant facade. The remainder of the north property line is well landscaped with a deciduous hedge of 36” to 48” to soften the “aesthetic” of the parking lot to the adjacent property to the north. A landscape plan was not provided with the special use submittal but will be required at the time of building permit to incorporate the above mentioned staff landscaping recommendations. Additional Staff Comments: As a result of the Board comments concerning traffic safety for this property, staff suggests that site directional signage be evaluated by the petitioner for both the McDonald’s site and the Chase Bank site to make sure that site signage is clear and effective for motorists traveling through and between each respective site. 3 STAFF REPORT – MCDONALDS USA, LLC SPECIAL USE AMENDMENT CASE NO. 2021-08-ZO-SU In addition to the current request for a special use amendment, the applicant is also requesting a parking variation that will be reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals on July 6th at their public hearing. RESPONSIBILITIES OF HEARING BODIES: Both the Plan Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals have the responsibility to make a recommendation on the request for a Special Use. Please include in your consideration, your findings with respect to the standards specified in the Zoning Ordinance for approval of a special use. The materials submitted by the applicant specifically address each of these standards. RECOMMENDATION: Staff has reviewed the petition for a special use permit amendment and the accompanying Findings of Fact and agrees with the request for the OAL. The proposed OAL provides added efficiencies for food pick up and this is a direct response to the challenges that McDonald’s has recently experienced due to the pandemic.