Advisory board to hear plans for new Wendy’s
by BRIAN N ADIG
The Wendy’s restaurant chain is proposing to tear down its restaurant at 5472 N. Harlem Ave. and replace it with its new prototype model, similar to the one that recently opened at Harlem and Irving Park Road.
The 41st Ward Zoning Advisory Board will discuss the proposal at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Olympia Park fieldhouse, 6566 N. Avondale Ave. Although a Wendy’s exists on the site, a zoning change is required because a portion of the property is zoned for residential use, according to Alderman Mary O’Connor’s chief of staff Lisa Ryan.
The 25,122-square-foot site currently is zoned RS-3 and B3-1, and under the proposal, the entire property would be zoned B3-1, which allows a variety of retail and restaurant uses. A special use permit for the planned drive-through window also is required.
The new restaurant would measure 2,907 square feet and would be situated further from Harlem than the existing one. The change would allow for a patio in front of the restaurant and provide more space for vehicles which are waiting in the drive-through lane.
Positioning the restaurant further west on the property also would improve the visibility of traffic on Harlem for motorists who are leaving the parking lot, according to project officials. The project also calls for the installation of an ornamental fence along Harlem, where there currently is no fence, and for the planting of several trees and other landscaping elements.
The number of parking spaces would decrease from 46 to 33.
Wendy’s reportedly has been test-marketing a new design concept in several cities.
