McDonald's Development Project

Mcdonald's is proposing roughly 40,000 SF of improvements, including increasing parking overall, and excluding the open space proposed to be landscaped. The impact of developing this area elsewhere is shown below. This would result in a net loss of roughly 100 parking spaces. The shopping center wouldn’t meet existing standards for the shopping center and would create a functional parking shortage. Mcdonald's is not interested in locating central to the shopping center, they are looking here because it is the corner of a lighted intersection. Also, the applicant does not own this land and cannot propose this, the bulk of the parking lot is owned by Kohls.

 

The existing capacity is 2.04 acre feet and the proposed is 2.14 acre feet which results in a 5% increase, beyond what is required to meet the DuPage County Stormwater Ordinance.

The existing pond is not a wetland, it is a stormwater facility that was created when Woodgrove Festival was originally built. The Woodgrove Festival stormwater goes into the existing system and does not contribute to the Dunham Road right-of-way flooding. The emergency overflow route from Woodgrove Festival is north into the 75th Street right-of-way and not to Dunham Road.

The Zigfield Troy property, while green, is a contributor to the stormwater that flows onto Dunham Road. The pond feature on the golf course provides almost no stormwater detention, and if the property is saturated, will create more run off.  The redevelopment of the golf course would improve drainage in this area as new development would be required to provide stormwater management.

Creating a new traffic pattern that is atypical and unexpected would not be safe or efficient. It is also unlikely to be followed. An additional right only access point off of 75^th would be a less safe alternative than routing traffic to the signalized intersection.  Also, the drive aisle along the west side of the shopping center is not wide enough to accommodate two way traffic. It is also lined with dumpsters, trash enclosures, emergency exits, and delivery doors. The aisle would frequently be blocked by garbage trucks and delivery vehicles. 

The shopping center and traffic patterns are existing. The subject shopping center, and center across the street, have both experienced times when there were more tenants than currently exist. Dunham Road was planned for extension south to 83^rd, and this plan was eliminated and reflective of resident’s desires. The shopping center and commercial zoning were established at this intersection before the subdivisions off of Dunham were built. 75^th Street is a commercial corridor and an additional commercial use here is a typical pattern of development.

Per the Illinois Accessibility code, accessible parking spaces that serve more than one accessible entrance shall be dispersed and located on the shortest accessible route to the accessible entrances. The accessible spaces will continue to be dispersed and located on an accessible route. The number of accessible spaces on the outlot will increase from 1 to 2, and additional accessible spaces are provided throughout the shopping center.

75th Street is under the jurisdiction of the DuPage County Division of Transportation (DuDOT), and carries an average daily traffic volume of 22,000 vehicles. 75th Street is designed to have a capacity of 55,000 daily vehicles. It is important to note that many trips made to fast food restaurants are diverted from existing traffic on the roadway system. This is particularly true during weekday morning and evening peak hours. This type of trip is referred to as pass-by traffic, meaning that these trips are not additionally added to the roadways. The traffic expected to be generated by this development that would turn south onto Dunham from 75^th street is estimated at 38 vehicles during the weekday AM peak hour (7:30-8:30 AM), 29 vehicles during the weekday PM peak hour (4:30-5:30 PM), and 45 vehicles during the Saturday midday peak hour (12:00-1:00 PM). This would result in a 1-2% increase in traffic during peak hours. The traffic study reports that the existing road system can sufficiently serve the proposed increase.