Geneva aldermen apparently run on Dunkin’, but they don’t want to buy their morning coffee at the corner of Kaneville and Randall Roads.
The Geneva City Council, convening as a committee Monday night, voted 9-0 to reject a request for a Dunkin’ Donuts at 2401 Kaneville Road, at the former site of a bank with a drive-through.
After nearly three hours of discussion and multiple comments from residents in the surrounding neighborhood, aldermen, while noting their love for the chain’s coffee, said adding a high-volume drive through to one of the busiest intersections in the city wasn’t the right move.
“There is no way to jam this into this property,” said Ald. Don Cummings.
In July, the Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee, Karim Khoja, petitioned the council for zoning changes that would allow a Dunkin’ Donuts at the spot. Several aldermen said they thought the traffic was too congested, but ultimately voted 6-4 to send the proposal back to city staff for more work.
Since that July meeting, the ownership of the strip mall has changed hands. All sides, including representatives from the Pepper Valley Homeowner’s Association, met in November to go over details.
Tim Doron, director of transportation planning for Gewalt Hamilton Associates, a consulting company hired by Dunkin’ Donuts to study the spot, said the petitioners would make some modifications to the strip mall traffic patterns that would better accommodate the traffic. He estimated that about two-thirds of customers would come from existing traffic, he said.
Ald. Jim Radecki, who lives a few blocks from the site, said that when the strip mall was built in the 1990s, it was intended to be a collection of neighborhood stores.
“This level of intensity was never intended for this site,” he said.
The committee also voted 9-0 to approve plans for 40 townhouses to be built by David Weekley Homes on the west side of Batavia Avenue near Forest View Drive. The townhouses, which will range in price from $370,000 to $510,000, according to the developer, will have two-car garages, full basements and be between 1,800 and 2,400 square feet. The proposal calls for a total of eight buildings, six of which will be oriented toward a new public street extending from South Batavia Avenue and connecting to Meadows Road.
Alexa Aguilar is a freelance reporter.
