Zoning change sought for planned restaurant in Downtown Edgebrook
by BRIAN NADIG
A proposal to build a new restaurant with a bar on the site of a 12-space parking lot in Downtown Edgebrook will be discussed at the March 5 meeting of the 41st Ward Zoning Advisory Board, according to Alderman Mary O’Connor’s chief of staff Lisa Ryan.
The property at northwest corner of Devon and Minnehaha avenues is zoned B1-1, which restricts the serving of alcohol to the dining room. Under the proposed B3-1 zoning, the restaurant would be allowed to have a bar, but most of the establishment’s revenue would have to be generated from non-alcoholic purchases.
The parking lot, at 5338 W. Devon Ave., had been used by the former Century 21 Ambassador, 5342 W. Devon Ave. The real estate office last year relocated to Niles and changed its name to Ambassador Real Estate Group.
A rear alley separates the approximately 4,000-square-foot parcel from a parking area to the north that is used by Happy Foods and Associated Bank.
The parcel is kiddie-corner to the Edgebrook Library, 5331 W. Devon Ave., but has been measured as more than 100 feet from the library, Ryan said. New liquor licenses cannot be issued to establishments which are located less than 100 feet from a library.
“It is going to be geared toward families,” project developer and Wildwood resident Kevin Walsh said of the restaurant. “It’ll have burgers, chicken, sandwiches and some salads with an underlying sports theme.”
Walsh serves as chairman of the advisory board, whose decisions serve as recommendations to O’Connor. Walsh said that he will recuse himself as chairman during the board’s deliberations on his project.
Five parking spaces behind the building are planned, and arrangements are being made to have additional parking at a nearby lot, Walsh said. The restaurant also is looking into offering valet parking, he said.
The one-story restaurant would include a side courtyard, Walsh said.
The advisory board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Olympia Park fieldhouse, 6566 N. Avondale Ave. A plan to build a two-story house at 7130-32 W. Highland Ave., which is vacant except for a shed, also is on the agenda.
