“Drive through, please.” Usually this request is made of hungry motorists, who happily comply.
However, when Rach’s Westmont Dairy Queen asked “drive-through, please” of the Village Board, the request on Monday was unanimously denied.
For the second time in 21/2 years, trustees turned down couple Bill and Lil Rach’s request to install a drive-through window at their eatery at 121 W. Ogden Ave. Despite a unanimous recommendation in March from the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission, trustees said they still have concerns about the drive-through’s impact on nearby homes and the layout of the plan.
Before trustees voted, village engineer Bill Laithem told the board that because of the “very, very tight” layout of the proposed drive-through lanes and nearby parking spaces, he did not favor the project.
In recent months, several residents living near the restaurant have voiced their opposition to the proposal, saying the drive-through window would lower home values, pose a danger to pedestrian children and generate noise, litter and a concentration of vehicle exhaust.
Scott Mitzner, an attorney for the Rachs, argued that the drive-through’s impact on residents would be minor and that Ogden Avenue’s long-established status as a commercial thoroughfare takes precedence over the wishes of residents who live in homes built long after Ogden’s construction.
Bill Rach said that since moving the Dairy Queen in 1998 from the nearby 5 E. Ogden Ave. to its current location, the business has experienced a steady drop in sales totaling over $70,000 in lost revenues. “It’s hard to say how long we’ll be able to survive there without a drive-through,” he said.
