Andy's Frozen Custard can move forward with plans to replace McGaffer's Saloon at 7737 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park after a 4-1 zoning vote.
Forest Park's Planning and Zoning Commission approved the national chain's conditional use request at its Oct. 19 meeting, as first reported by the Forest Park Review. The vote also approved consolidating the plots of land east and west of the current McGaffer's building. The Forest Park Village Council is expected to take a final vote next month.
The commission attached conditions: an eight-foot fence on the north side of the property, no planters on the southwest corner of the lot, a monument sign instead of a proposed 25-foot ice cream cone, and required photometric and acoustics studies to measure light and sound impact on neighbors.
Steve Glinke, the village's building and planning department chief, told the Review he had hoped for a unanimous vote but called the project "this is an economic gain for the village."
Board member Paul Price cast the lone dissenting vote. Price cited photos of an Andy's construction site on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, presented during public comment by Nick Medina, a business agent at Laborers Union, Local 1. The photos showed a wooden fence with a gap large enough for a person to climb through near a trench and a "children playing" sign, according to the Review's account.
"Those pictures of the construction site that were shared shook me," Price said.
Price works with Chicago unions as an employee of Laborers' International Union of North America's Great Lakes Regional Organizing Committee. Jeremy Esparza, also a business agent for Local 1, asked who Andy's subcontractors were. Chairperson Marsha East directed that question to the village council.
If the council approves the project, the location would feature a two-lane drive-through and walk-up windows. Travis King, who works in development at Andy's Frozen Custard, told the commission the drive-through and walk-up windows average 67% and 33% of the chain's business, respectively.
One resident who lives directly north of the proposed site raised concerns about noise and light. King said the company was open to the taller fence and would add landscaping to screen the property.
The Forest Park Review's full account covers the traffic plan, access points and Andy's community commitments. The village council vote next month will decide whether the project proceeds.
