La Grange board approves McDonald’s redevelopment, limits extended hours to plan commission recommendation

The Village of La Grange Board of Trustees voted to approve a special-use permit and related design and site-plan approvals for the McDonald’s redevelopment at 100 North La Grange Road, with operating hours limited to those recommended by the plan commission. The ordinance, adopted after public comment and trustee discussion, restricts drive-through and delivery activity to 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5 a.m. to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays preceding Monday holidays.

The application calls for demolishing and replacing the existing restaurant with a new 4,090-square-foot building, adding dual drive-through lanes and reconfiguring the parking lot to provide 23 stalls and five bike parking spaces. Attorney representing the applicant described revisions that addressed the plan commission’s design and lighting concerns; staff confirmed the revised plans meet conditions on materials, lighting during nonoperational hours, refuse collection schedules and sidewalk repairs.

Neighbors who live immediately west of the site told the board they prefer the plan commission’s recommended hours. "We collected more than 500 signatures, which actually asked not to have a 24 hour operation," said Anne Blueen, a resident across from the site, urging the board to honor the commission’s limits. The applicant’s operator, David Baer, said the developer requested broader hours initially to have flexibility, not to open immediately for 24-hour operations.

Trustees debated an amendment that would have allowed the village board to grant future extensions of hours without sending the applicant back to the plan commission; the amendment failed. The board then voted to approve the ordinance as drafted by the plan commission. President Mark Kuchler thanked residents and the plan commission for a collaborative process.

The ordinance includes seven plan-commission conditions (hours and refuse collection among them) and additional staff oversight items (final color/material approvals, outdoor dining enclosure with a gate, reduced lighting levels outside operation hours, and sidewalk repairs along La Grange Road and Ogden Avenue). The applicant agreed to limited off-site paving as part of an agreement with an adjacent property owner.

Next steps: the applicant may proceed with building-permit steps and final staff reviews; any change to hours will require the process outlined in the ordinance unless the board chooses to reopen the issue in a separate proceeding.