South Barrington may ease restrictions on drive-throughs

Fearing longtime restrictions on drive-through windows are resulting in lost commercial opportunities, South Barrington officials may ease the prohibitions as soon as next week.

“We feel like we may be missing out on some potential businesses if we don’t consider (a change),” Village Administrator Robert Palmer said.

Originating in the U.S. nearly a century ago, drive-through windows long have been popular at American restaurants, banks and other businesses, and they’ve become more common worldwide in recent decades.

As Palmer noted, drive-through service became even more sought after during the COVID-19 pandemic because people feared exposing themselves to infected customers. People were even able to get tested for COVID-19 without leaving their cars by visiting drive-through operations.

But in South Barrington, restrictions on drive-through windows that have been on the books since at least the late 1970s have made them hard to find. Windows are forbidden without special permission in areas zoned for offices, with banks being the only type of business that have gotten such permits, Palmer said.

Drive-through windows are allowed in other zoning districts without permits, but they’ve been rare. A now-closed CVS pharmacy at the Arboretum of South Barrington shopping center was one example.

No fast-food restaurants with drive-through windows operate in South Barrington. Nor do coffee- or pastry-based businesses like Starbucks or Dunkin’.

Village officials believe it’s time to expand local drive-through options. The construction of a Starbucks just outside the village in Hoffman Estates ‒ on the other side of Barrington Road, the border between the two towns ‒ was a factor in the philosophical shift, Palmer said.

“That’s a vital component to their stores,” Palmer said of the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain. “We don’t want to close that possibility off.”

South Barrington’s plan commission, which advises the village board on construction and zoning issues, discussed the matter Wednesday night. The panel ultimately voted to recommend the board change local zoning rules so drive-up service would be allowed with special permits in all commercial districts, Palmer said.

Officials also want to better define what constitutes a drive-through business and develop rules for operation, design and traffic, Palmer said.

The village board could debate and vote on such a proposal when it next meets at 7 p.m. Jan. 11.