Drive-through liquor store being considered in St. Charles

Drive-through service isn't the first thing that comes to mind when heading to a liquor store.

Andy Patel, however, hopes to add a drive-through to the liquor store he wants to open in St. Charles.

He and his lawyer, Kate McCracken, presented a concept plan for the proposal Wednesday to the St. Charles Plan Commission.

The plan received a mixed reaction from commission members. Though some didn't object to the drive-through concept for the building at the southwest corner of Prairie and South 14th streets, commissioners raised concerns about traffic flow, landscaping and other issues.

"I don't have a problem with the drive-through," Commissioner Laura Macklin-Purdy said. "If you clean up this building it can really go nowhere but up. It's a little bit of an eyesore right now."

In 2015, the city passed an ordinance allowing drive-through service at liquor stores. Patel's location, which is in a residential area, has been a liquor store for decades. But now with a new owner, an updated zoning amendment must be approved and the city must grant a special-use approval to permit a drive-through.

Patel, who has a contract to purchase the building built in 1930, said he and McCracken would continue to work with city staff to address commission members' concerns and return with an update to the project named "Mr. A's Prairie Drive-Thru."

The update could include shifting the drive-through window to the southeast side of the building and closing the northeast corner of the parking lot to traffic to allow for additional landscaping.

Patel said he's already addressing property cleanup and exterior work to improve the aesthetics of the property. He wants the drive-through to be the final piece of the puzzle, but some commissioners disapproved of the concept in that area.

"I know that building has been serving alcohol for literally decades," said commission Vice Chairman Tim Kessler. "But to make that kind of change in the middle of a neighborhood for this particular use, I am not in favor of."