A pediatric dentistry and orthodontics practice plans to leave downtown Naperville for new offices in the former Dog Patch Pet and Feed building along the Ogden Avenue corridor.
Drs. Cory Grathwol and Nicole Gange propose renovating the 4,835-square-foot former pet store at 1108 E. Ogden Ave. for G&G Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics if the city approves two variances the project requires.
The husband and wife appeared before the Planning and Zoning Commission this week to request a reduction in the required parking lot setback along the west property line and a decrease in required parking spaces from 24 to 16.
The commission recommended the Naperville City Council approve both variances.
Grathwol said they purchased the practice of longtime pediatric dentist Dr. Kurt Warner in summer 2020, and Gange started her orthodontic practice from scratch the following spring.
Since then, they’ve since outgrown their shared office on the third floor of the Barnes & Noble building at Washington Street and Chicago Avenue, he said.
“The goal would be that we could be practicing at the same time because right now, with just the limited square footage that we have in the building, we can’t function at the same time,” Grathwol said. “We want to kind of increase the convenience for our patients to be a one-stop shop and make things easier for families.”
Their office doesn’t need as much parking as a general dentist office, where the patient to vehicle ratio often is one-to-one, he said.
“I’m seeing only pediatric patients or patients that have special health care needs so a majority of my patients are coming three to four patients in a car at a time,” Grathwol said.
“With the nature of what Nicole does being an orthodontist, similarly we are commonly seeing siblings and multiple family members,” he said.
According to documents filed with the city by Jason Bergwerff, of Apex Design Build, 70% of the appointments involve families with multiple siblings and 85% are younger than 16 so a parent or guardian must drive them to the office.
Bergwerff said plans are to remove the clutter, shed, fencing, old sign pole, a pond and overgrowth; add permeable pavers to aid drainage; resurface the pavement; create a new trash enclosure; and provide new curbing, concrete steps, and ADA and bicycle parking.
Commission Chairman Anthony Losurdo said the design fits in well with the city’s initiative to improve the aging Ogden Avenue business corridor.
He said he was a customer of Dog Patch for years. “I think the building looks great,” Losurdo said.
Wu’s House variances recommended
The commission also recommended the council grant a variance allowing the proposed Wu’s House restaurant at 2703 Beebe Drive to provide less parking than required.
City code mandates eating establishments have 10 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, meaning the proposed 16,263-square-foot Japanese steakhouse/sushi bar would need 163 parking spaces.
Wu’s House plans calls for 146.
To accommodate potential overflow parking, the restaurant secured a reciprocal agreement with the adjacent X-Sport Fitness for the use of 50 parking spaces.
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A parking study estimates the restaurant would need parking for 197 cars at peaks times, which is about 7 p.m. during winter months.