Crystal Lake planning and zoning commissioners say a proposed drive-thru coffee shop is not a good fit for a former bank location.
Developers are looking to construct a new two-tenant building at 5999 Northwest Highway on about 1 acre that would be occupied by Dutch Bros Coffee and a LensCrafters or a similar medical retailer.
The site, formerly a Home State Bank, had previously been approved to be turned into a car wash, according to city documents.
Dutch Bros is a national coffee retailer that is “90% to 95% drive-thru,” Core Acquisitions Vice President of Development Adam Bell said. He currently is working with the company on opening 11 other locations in the Chicago area. Depending on how construction goes, Crystal Lake could be the first Dutch Bros location in the northern Illinois area.
One location is currently being proposed in Oswego.
With concerns over traffic and the “restrictive” size of the parcel, the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission denied recommending the proposal in a 5-2 vote Wednesday.
The plan’s only access point is off Heritage Drive. No access is proposed through Route 14 or South Main Street, City Planner Elizabeth Maxwell said.
That increased traffic pattern on Heritage Drive, especially once the Water’s Edge development becomes more occupied, was a concern for Commissioner Jeff Greenman.
Commissioner Bill Gronow said: “I think it’s a tough site for this,”
The City Council is scheduled to give the final vote on March 3.
Developers requested a special-use permit to allow for a “limited service coffee use” that includes a drive-thru, along with multiple variations due to site constraints, according to city documents. Those variations made commissioners unsure if the lot was a good fit for the “self-created hardship,” Scott Smith said.
“I like the product,” he said. “It’s entirely the wrong parcel given what you’re trying to put into it. I think the variances are evidence of that.”
Another aversion of the commissioners was a large blue section of the coffee shop’s exterior. City staff recommended that developers opt for a tower that isn’t completely solid blue.
But Bell said the locations “really need their branding ... especially in a new-to-market location where not that many people in the Chicago area know of Dutch Bros.”
If approved by the City Council, construction could start as early as this spring or summer, Bell said.
Bell also helped develop the retail section of Water’s Edge, which sits less than a mile away. During Wednesday’s meeting, he said the first tenant expected to open “within a month.”
Retailers to occupy the first retail Water’s Edge buildings were announced last year, including the fast-casual restaurant Cava and optical retailer America’s Best.
Two sit-down restaurants – First Watch and BBQ King Smokehouse – will fill the space, according to a previous city of Crystal Lake news release.