Carol Stream village board approves bar patio

Parking concerns led a majority of Carol Stream plan commission members to reject a sports bar’s petition to install an outdoor seating area.

But it appears the establishment will get the patio its owners want — after the village board approved the request.

Trustees voted 5-1 Monday to grant a special use permit and other zoning variances that would allow construction of the 960-square-foot patio at the Bulldog Ale House, located at the Fountains at Town Center retail development on Lies Road, west of Gary Avenue.

It’s not often the village board overrides recommendations of the plan commission, but in order to do so, at least four trustees need to concur.

Under the initial plan, installing the patio would have eliminated four parking spaces. But Bulldog’s owners revised their plans, and proposed reducing parking space width on the farthest parking aisle from 9½ feet to 9 feet. Two landscaped islands would also be eliminated.

The result: no net loss of parking throughout the lot, officials said.

Trustees said they supported the restaurant-bar’s expansion in an effort to promote economic development at the Fountains at Town Center. Since Fountains opened in 2004, two higher-end restaurants have failed at the spot where Bulldog is located.

Trustee Don Weiss, who served on the plan commission when Fountains was approved, said the patio would add amenity and improvement to the center.

“We’re (darn) lucky to have (Bulldogs) here,” Weiss said. “We have to step up and support business instead of trying to knock them down.”

Weiss and Trustee Pam Fenner suggested other businesses may follow based upon the sports bar’s success.

“The more people come to your establishment, the more people will come to nearby businesses and shop,” Fenner told Margie Axelson, Bulldog’s general manager.

Trustee Mary Frusolone agreed that the village needs to do what it can to support businesses. But she said she voted against approving zoning changes for the patio because it would mean elimination of a sidewalk from the bar to adjoining storefronts.

Members of the plan commission, who voted 4-3 last month to reject the proposal, raised similar concerns.

“I understand you have to walk through parking lots anywhere, but the purpose of a sidewalk is to give people the shortest amount of time in a parking lot,” Frusolone said. “It concerns me that you can have families or people with disabilities who don’t have any other option besides moving between potentially moving cars.”