Northbrook reaches compromise on proposed 7-Eleven at Waukegan and Shermer

The Village of Northbrook board of trustees dealt with a tricky situation on Tuesday.

The board returned to a topic it first heard in February 2019 - a proposed 7-Eleven with a gas station and car wash at 1103 Waukegan Road, at the corner of Waukegan and Shermer roads.

Back then the board had concerns about noise, light and location of some features. The applicant adjusted to the requests and, in August, Northbrook's Architectural Control Commission recommended approval of the plan.

It then got sent to the Plan Commission, where after public hearings the commission approved the plan under the condition that the business operate only from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. rather than 24 hours daily.

The applicant and property owner, GW Northbrook 2, had conceded to limit the car wash hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., but remained firm on operating the convenience store and gas station 24 hours daily.

Reasons cited were the need of an overnight shift to maintain the store and prepare for the next day, current gas station market conditions requiring an all-day investment, and that 24-hour operation is part of 7-Eleven's brand for new stores.

From there it went to the board Tuesday for further guidance.

Asked if 7-Eleven would pull out of redeveloping the 38,000-square-foot space should it not receive 24-hour operation, GW Northbrook 2 representative Mitch Goltz said, "100 percent."

Trustee Kathryn Ciesla brought up a workaround: "We have the opportunity to award a special permit," she said.

"If the board were inclined to grant a special permit for 24 hours, my suggestion would be to do it for a very short time. Do it for a year if we can. If there's a problem, the business has to come before us to renew that permit," she said.

"This way we could make sure that the residents are protected and we have something that comes in to take care of that space."

Opinions generally agreed with Ciesla's special permit suggestion, and village attorney Steve Elrod brought up the example of a similar agreement with a McDonald's restaurant.

Put to a vote, trustees passed the motion 6-0 for a special agreement with 7-Eleven for the 24-hour operation to be reviewed a year after opening.

Though it's not set in stone.

"Obviously, we're not going to start drawing up the documents if the petitioner says no way," said Village President Sandy Frum.

"That motion passes, and we'll see where we go from here."