McDonald’s backs out of sixth Naperville location
McDonald’s has pulled the plug on much-scrutinized plans for what would have been its sixth Naperville restaurant, this one targeted for downtown.
Developers had hoped to demolish the Citgo gas station at Hillside Road and Washington Street to construct a 3,599-square-foot McDonald’s that would be open around the clock. They were expected to present an updated proposal to the city council on Oct. 16 to address concerns about the location raised by both council members and neighbors.
“We’ve done a lot of work since we were last before the council and I fully believe we would have been able to address all of the concerns in our latest attempt,” said Henry Stillwell, an attorney representing McDonald’s. “But there are some underlying dynamics that would need to be addressed before we could move forward.”
Stillwell said he was not at liberty to discuss those dynamics at this time.
Council members rejected McDonald’s original plan, saying the drive-through could pose a traffic and safety nightmare on Washington Street and could disrupt the nearby residential neighborhood.
The plans called for a right-in and right-out access on Washington and the opportunity to turn left or right when exiting onto Hillside Road.
The proposed parking lot would have had 31 spaces instead of the required 61; of those, 11 would have been for employee parking.
Councilman Bob Fieseler, an outspoken opponent of the plan, said Monday he was pleased.
“I’m happy to see the proposal has been abandoned. I’m not saying that McDonald’s couldn’t have come up with a plan that could have accommodated my concerns,” Fieseler said. “But a full-service restaurant, with the service expectations they had, with a drive-through, was not going to work there.”