Final vote pending for new Mexican restaurant in Vernon Hills
Plans for an upscale Mexican restaurant in Vernon Hills are expected to move quickly, despite a shortfall of parking spaces, pending official village board approval of the project next week.
Texas-based Uncle Julio's is the planned anchor in the transformation of an old two-story office building at the northwest corner of routes 60 and 21 by Centrum Partners LLC. The proposal has been winding its way through the village approval process, with part of the request being to operate with 144 parking spaces rather than 334 required by village code.
"Due to the way we calculate (parking) for restaurants, it causes the property to be underparked," said Joe Carey, assistant village manager.
The village's planning and zoning commission recommended against that, but the village board informally has given it the go-ahead after developers promised some creative action to address the issue.
"Based on our projection, we need another 10 spaces," said Larry Powers, an executive with Centrum. "We're planning to resolve any parking shortfall during peak (restaurant) periods with on-site valet," parking.
Powers said the valet service will be able to park about 30 more vehicles than there will be designated spaces, which should solve any issue. The service would be complimentary and customers wouldn't be charged, he added. Company representatives also told village officials they were not planning to have on-site parking for the maximum of 50 employees.
The site is adjacent to the Westfield Hawthorn shopping center, but there is no shared parking agreement. Westfield objected to the plan saying traffic could back up onto Ring Road and create a liability.
"I would say it's really unlikely for Westfield to agree to anything," Carey said.
An Uncle Julio's opened in Chicago in 1993, and suburban locations include Skokie, Lombard and Orland Park. There's a deal for another restaurant reportedly pending in Schaumburg. The Vernon Hills location would seat 220 patrons inside and 70 outside in a patio area.
According to code, the village board can overturn the planning and zoning commission recommendation to deny only by a two-thirds vote, which would mean four positive votes would be required. If approved by the village board, Uncle Julio's would plan to quickly start work on the project.
"They want to go 100 miles per hour and get open by spring," Powers said.
While the restaurant would be the anchor, a Northwestern Medical facility and three retail spaces are part of the makeover. Work is underway on the Northwestern space on the north side of the building.