Zoning Board of Appeals hears NW side cases

by BRIAN NADIG

An outdoor patio at a bar in Old Irving Park and a public place of amusement license for a Portage Park banquet hall were among the items that were approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals at its Jan. 19 meeting.

The operator of Independence Tap, 3932-34 W. Irving Park Road, was seeking a special use permit to allow for a rear outdoor patio.

"It’s small, and a plan of operations limits how late they can use (the patio). They also are adding food," Alderman John Arena’s chief of staff Owen Brugh said.

Also approved for the bar is a variation to establish a public place of amusement license that is intended to allow the business to charge admission for concerts planned by the Old Town School of Folk Music, Brugh said. The variation is required because the tavern is located within 125 feet of a residentially zoned district.

The bar, which is located in a two-story building at the northwest corner of Harding Avenue and Irving Park Road, already hosts live band performances but was not permitted to charge admission.

The board also approved with conditions a variation request for a public place of amusement license for the Once Upon A Party Banquet, 5911 W. Montrose Ave., which is located within 125 feet of a residentially zoned district. The banquet hall operator also was seeking a special use to establish an eight-space, off-site parking lot at 5942-44 W. Montrose Ave., which was approved.

Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th) said that the public place of amusement license is intended to allow for the banquet hall to charge admission for children’s events.

Other items on the agenda that were approved were special uses to establish a dual-lane, drive-through facility at the McDonald’s restaurant, 3540 N. Harlem Ave., a car wash in a one-story building at 4607 W. Fullerton Ave., a tavern at 6213 W. Belmont Ave., and a nail salon at 3419 N. Central Ave.

Continued to the Feb. 16 meeting was request for a special use to establish a new one-story retail building with a one-lane car wash for an existing gas station at 3341-57 W. Foster Ave.

In addition, variation request to add a front second-floor addition and a front carport to the Peterson Park Health Care facility, 6141 N. Pulaski Road, was continued to the Feb. 16 meeting and a request to allow for a public place of amusement license for a proposed banquet hall at 5749 W. Fullerton Ave. was withdrawn.

Meanwhile, Sposato will host a community at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Stokes Center at Saint Francis Borgia, 8033 W. Addison St., to discuss a special use application for a proposed coffee shop with a drive-through facility at the southeast corner of Irving Park Road and Cumberland Avenue. A similar proposal at the intersection failed to materialize in 2014.

Sposato also will hold a community meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Dunham Park fieldhouse, 4638 N. Melvina Ave., to discuss a special use application for a proposed 7-Eleven gas station at the northwest corner of Montrose and Austin avenues.

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