Palatine McDonald's plans remodel, expansion with new PlayPlace
The McDonald's restaurant on Rand Road in Palatine is planning to remodel and build a 1,500-square-foot addition for an indoor PlayPlace.
The building at 1576 N. Rand Road would get new decor, including new seating, painting and ADA-compliant bathrooms, as well as a freezer/cooler addition, updated drive-through lanes and more landscaping in the back. The building would grow from 4,060 square feet to 5,598 square feet.
The village's zoning board of appeals recommended approval in a 7-1 vote at its meeting this week. The village council is expected to discuss the proposal Dec. 14.
The McDonald's currently has 51 parking spots, below the 56 required under village code. The restaurant wants to eliminate another four spots, which would leave 47.
Board member James Dittrich cast the only "no" vote after questioning the parking plan.
Restaurant representatives had told the village that 70% to 75% of business comes from drive-through orders. Dittrich asked for precise analytics from the restaurant.
"I am only asking because if another business that perhaps wasn't McDonald's was trying to get a similar variation, would they be given the same amount of trust?" Dittrich said.
The new PlayPlace presumably will attract more diners inside, board Chairwoman Jan Wood pointed out.
The restaurant was represented by Joe Minorik, area construction manager for McDonald's USA, based in Oak Brook, and Kenneth Sack of Watermark Engineering Resources, based in Aurora.
Minorik said he didn't have any data immediately available but could provide it later.
The restaurant has one parking spot for every 1.98 customers, and that would change to one spot for every 2.34 customers, Minorik said. By comparison, a similar McDonald's in Hanover Park has one stall per 3.66 customers, he said.
"We have 16,000 stores across the country. The last thing we want to do for any of our owner-operators is to short park our own lot," he said.
Village Planner Lyn Bremanis said Palatine has not received any complaints about parking at the restaurant, whose dining room has been closed since March. The restaurant has capacity for 97 seats and would add four more, for a total of 101, under the expansion plan, she said.
McDonald's plan also calls for a 36-foot setback from Rand Road, where the PlayPlace addition would be built; village code calls for 40 feet. Bremanis said it's not uncommon for buildings along Rand Road to have shorter setbacks.