Mount Prospect rejects plan for Wendy's on Rand Road
Mount Prospect trustees this week turned down a plan for a Wendy's restaurant with a drive-through on Rand Road, after listening to a host of concerns from nearby residents.
The village's planning and zoning commission previously recommended against a proposal to change the zoning of 200 and 204 W. Rand Road from residential to commercial, which would clear way for the fast-food restaurant. Village trustees were split 3-3 on Tuesday, preventing the supermajority required to override the zoning panel's decision.
GW Properties wanted to build on the property that currently features two single-family homes. Both are rental properties with a history of complaints about deterioration, weeds, litter on the ground and dead trees.
"This property had undergone three or four prior prospective purchasers, all of which were interested for some sort of retail development," said Mitch Goltz, owner of GW Properties. "These houses are never going to be repaired. In my mind, it either goes retail or it stays the way it is."
Mario Valentini of MRV Architects Inc., said there have been changes in the plan to address neighbors' concerns, including relocation of the trash enclosure and increasing the height of fencing to provide sound and light protection.
But neighbors in the Wedgewood Subdivision said the planned 2,584-square-foot Wendy's would have created other problems, including neighborhood cut-through traffic and drainage issues stemming from paving over two lots.
Meadow Lane resident Gina Faso noted that there are no sidewalks in the neighborhood, forcing children and other pedestrians to walk in the street.
Trustee Paul Hoefert was among the board members who opposed the project.
"I have a real problem with a drive-through restaurant in the backyards of some of people's homes," he said.
But Trustee William Grossi, who voted in favor of the rezoning, said the homes on the site will continue to deteriorate.
"They're going to get worse and worse for the community," he said.