The village’s Plan Commission Tuesday approved a proposal for a restaurant on 94th Avenue, despite complaints from about 20 area residents who were hoping instead for an office building or a bank.
“I don’t know what it is about hamburgers in this area, but it draws a crowd,” said commission member Demetrios Dalmares. “Two weeks ago, it was McDonalds,” he said.
Indeed, Tuesday’s controversy sounded much like the recent uproar by residents who were opposed to a McDonald’s opening in a shopping center at 15812 S. Wolf Rd. Critics cited the traffic, noise and garbage they said would follow the building of a restaurant. In both cases, members of the Plan Commission said they approved the restaurant proposals because they met village zoning and code guidelines.
The proposed site for the Top Notch Beefburgers restaurant is in an existing shopping center that residents say has become an eyesore from their viewpoint–the rear of the building. The 94-seat restaurant includes take-out and dining room services.
Diran Soulian, owner of the proposed 3,600-square-foot restaurant, said he would comply with the commission’s conditions that cooking odors be filtered, brick garbage enclosures be built and an improved landscaping buffer be installed.
But residents remain opposed. “When we moved in, there was nothing there. We were told it was going to be office buildings,” said Brenda Margwarth, who lives near the plaza at 15447 S. 94th Ave. “When I heard they were going to put a food establishment there, it was our worst nightmare,” she said.
Margwarth said she and her neighbors have been complaining about overflowing trash bins, delivery truck traffic and skimpy landscaping for years and are not anxious to see food waste added to the mess. Traffic congestion and teen loitering also are common gripes by residents.
Mario Tricoci, who is a tenant in the same center and owns Tricoci Hair Salon and Day Spas, said his business likely will be affected by the center’s change in character because of anticipated parking congestion, food odors and garbage. “I really feel that is detrimental to our success,” he said.
Dalmares pointed out that 94th Avenue has long been considered one of the downtown strips in the village. “It’s a high-volume area,” he said. “It’s meant to be.”
And commission member Pat Gira said, “Any business is going to bring traffic. Unfortunately, it was a commercial area when you moved in.”
The recommendation will be forwarded to the village’s Community Development Committee next week before the Village Board votes on the project.
