Dunkin’, Jersey Mike’s planned in Sauganash

by BRIAN NADIG

A Dunkin’ Donuts with a drive-through facility and a Jersey Mike’s Subs are two of the planned tenants for a commercial center which is expected to open next year in Sauganash, while a zoning change has been proposed for a gas station site in Edgebrook.

The project’s developer is working on securing additional tenants, according to Alderman Margaret Laurino’s office. The approximately 1.3-acre site at 4054-4102 W. Peterson Ave. is located next to the planned Weber Spur bike trail.

A construction permit for the project is pending with the city Department of Buildings. A former gas station was demolished at the location several years ago, while a permit to tear down a former veterinary clinic on the site’s east end was issued in September.

Meanwhile, an application has been filed to rezone the site of the British Petroleum gas station at 6308 N. Central Ave.

In early 2017, Laurino had the gas station property downzoned to RS-2, which is intended primarily for single-family homes, after the previous 2001 gas station closed.

The downzoning "gives the community a greater voice in the future" of the property, Laurino said at the time. Other lots on the block that she described as "distressed" also were downzoned.

The gas station facility was later remodeled to accommodate the BP station opening there, and it is allowed to operate under the site’s residential zoning because its use is grandfathered in. The proposed B3-1 Community Shopping District zoning permits gas stations and would allow for additional signage or other improvements, according to Laurino’s office.