Taco Bell could be coming to Belmont-Lockwood site in 30th Ward
by BRIAN NADIG
The owner of several Taco Bell restaurants is seeking to open a fast-food eatery with a drive-through facility on the site of a former Presence Health medical office at 5308 W. Belmont Ave.
The parcel is located at the northwest corner of Belmont and Lockwood avenues and includes a two-story building and 36-space parking lot. A Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken, which has a drive-up window, is located at the northeast corner of the intersection.
The Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to hold a hearing on the proposal at its virtual meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 16. The issuance of a special use permit for the drive-through is required for the project.
The board’s agenda does not list the name of the restaurant, but the project’s applicant is Ag Bells II LLC, which operates several Taco Bell restaurants in the Chicago area.
Also on the board’s agenda is a proposal for a second-floor addition to an existing one-story office building at 6151 N. Milwaukee Ave., where the Basinski Animal Clinic was once located.
The applicant, Zeal Investments, is seeking two variations to allow for a residential unit on the second floor. Under the site’s B3-1 zoning, the standard minimum lot area requirement for one residential unit is 2,500 square feet, but the applicant is asking to have the minimum lowered to 2,400 square feet.
A second variation request rear setback for the planned second floor be reduced from the required 30 feet to 22.63 feet.
In Edgebrook, the owners of a single-family home at 6709 N. Kinzua Ave. are seeking a variation to allow for a one-story front addition. The variation request calls for the front yard setback to be reduced from the required 30.75 feet to 8 feet.
Instructions on how to provide public testimony at the meeting are posted at www.chicago.gov/zba.
