









by BRIAN NADIG

A proposal to build a Starbucks coffee shop with a drive-through facility at 4151 N. Cicero Ave. appears to be moving forward after design changes were made at the request of Alderman John Arena (45th).

Arena had the 20,000-square-foot parcel at the northeast corner of Berteau and Cicero avenues rezoned last year to accommodate the project, but a special use permit for the drive-through also is required, and the developer did not apply for the permit until late March. The site was once a parking lot for the former Family Fruit Market, 4118 N. Cicero Ave.

In January, Arena said that the project had a suburban-style design and that he would not support the proposal unless it had more of an urban feel, with the building situated along the front of the property. “There’s a lot of suburbs. Build it up there,” he said at the Jan. 16 meeting of the Portage Park Neighborhood Association.

Arena’s chief of staff Owen Brugh said that the revised plan addresses the alderman’s concerns. “The building will be closer to the Cicero side, with extensive landscaping and a patio. Additionally, more screening was added to protect the home owner to the east,” Brugh said.

The development also would include 14 parking spaces.

At a community meeting hosted by Arena last year, some residents raised concerns that a drive-through facility would detract from efforts to make the Six Corners commercial area more pedestrian-friendly. The site is located outside of a “pedestrian street” zoning designation which governs most of the shopping district and which prohibits new drive-through facilities.

Later this spring the Zoning Board of Appeals is expected to hold a hearing on the special use request for the drive-through.

A Starbucks also is proposed in the neighboring 38th Ward at the southeast corner of Irving Park Road and Central Avenue. At community meetings, concerns have been raised that a Starbucks there would hurt independently owned coffee shops in the area.

In addition, earlier this year a Starbucks with a drive-through facility opened at Northwest Highway and Harlem Avenue.









