A proposed Dutch Bros. Coffee drive-thru at Ogden and Saratoga Avenues won't get the Planning and Zoning Commission's blessing. Commissioners voted 5–1 on Tuesday, July 7, to reject the planned unit development, special use permit, and zoning variances the Oregon-based chain needed to build on the site.

The proposal now moves to the Downers Grove Village Council for a final decision.

Commission Chair Michael Rickard cast the lone vote in favor, saying he didn't see lasting traffic problems once an initial four-to-six-week rush period passed. The five commissioners who voted no weren't convinced.

Commissioner Katherine Frankovic said she could not conclude the project wouldn't be "detrimental to the health, safety and general welfare of the community." Commissioner Jeanne Eberhardt called the lot "tight" and "landlocked," saying she would need a different traffic-routing solution before she could support the plan.

Neighbors packed the hearing

Residents had been organizing against the proposal since at least late May, when a Change.org petition launched. By the time commissioners met, more than 700 people had signed it, and 95 residents had submitted written objections to village staff.

Dr. Don Provenzale, a dentist at 4336 Saratoga Ave., pointed to the Dutch Bros. location in Melrose Park as a warning. "I cannot envision any way in which we're not going to have gridlock," he told commissioners, describing how cars at the Melrose Park site snake through the entire parking lot two abreast. Provenzale raised concerns about how drive-thru traffic could block disabled patients trying to reach his office.

Scott Richards, a resident near Oak Tree Towers, said school buses already exit a nearby school lot and stack up at the Ogden Avenue light. His message to Dutch Bros. was blunt: find another location.

Resident MaryKay Holmes noted a "very active senior center" and the FISH Pantry food bank both operate near the proposed site.

Developer made its case

Brian Gay, president and CEO of the Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation, a local business-advocacy nonprofit, spoke in support of the application. Gay said the EDC had worked with the applicant to vet the site, noting that lighted intersections along Ogden Avenue are scarce and that the Ogden-Saratoga corner is the kind of location a drive-thru business needs.

Gay said the applicant engineered a site plan that keeps all vehicle stacking on-site and argued the initial high-traffic period would last only two to six weeks after opening. He added that by the time the Downers Grove location would open, eight other Chicagoland Dutch Bros. locations should be operating, easing demand.

Dutch Bros. operates 1,251 locations nationwide and is actively expanding in the Chicago suburbs, with a Buffalo Grove site planned at 80 McHenry Road, according to a company statement on Monday, July 6.

What happens next

The Village Council will make the final call. Council meets on the first, second, and third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Downers Grove Civic Center, 850 Curtiss St. A council hearing date for the Dutch Bros. proposal has not been publicly posted. Residents can monitor upcoming agendas at downers.us.