Customers hankering for a morning coffee or afternoon doughnut pick-me-up will have a new option on the far northwest side of Naperville.
Plans for a new Dunkin’ Go store that will serve drive-thru customers exclusively was unanimously greenlighted Tuesday by Naperville City Council.
Set on less than an acre of land at 1671 N. Route 59 at Diehl Road, the two-story building will have no indoor ordering or dining. But it will have two drive-thru lanes to accommodate 14 cars waiting in line for live orders or to pick up items purchased via the mobile app.
The council decision came despite an appeal from Naperville resident Marilyn Schweitzer, who said the city should require the store to install a walk-up window for pedestrians or cyclists.
Schweitzer said the city is taking steps to encourage walkability and therefore businesses within city corridors should also ensure their sites support accessible and safe pedestrian and cyclist access.
“Doing otherwise diminishes the usefulness of the right-of-way sidewalks,” she said.
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This location at the southwest corner of Route 59 and Diehl Road is easy walking and cycling distance from nearby residences, offices and retail stores, and all adjacent streets have public sidewalks.
Dunkin’ Go owner Prakash Patel said the location was designed specifically to attract drive-thru customers.
Walk-in or pedal-in customers can visit his other Dunkin’ shop a half mile south on Route 59 at Brookdale Road.
The new Dunkin’ Go will be Patel’s third store along Route 59 in Naperville.
Project architect Hemal Purohit said the Dunkin’ corporate office reviewed two options for the site, a store with both a drive-thru and walk-up window and one with just the drive-thru, and recommended the latter.
Walk-up windows make sense in urban areas like Chicago or a densely packed suburb where there is more foot traffic and not the need to stack as many cars in a drive-thru lane, Purohit said.
The Naperville market is different and heavily dependent on automobile traffic, Purohit said.
Adding a walk-up window also would trigger other requirements and changes to the floor plans, such as adding public restrooms and installing another station to accommodate walking customers, he said.
It is not as easy as putting in a window in the wall, Purohit said. “We would have to reconfigure the whole store,” he said.
Councilman Benny White said he’d like to see a walk-up window. “But that’s not my call. It’s your business model; that’s your decision,” he said.
As long as the plans meet the city’s safety requirements, White said he doesn’t think it’s the city’s job to tell the owner how to design his building.
Among the variances signed off by the council are requests to reduce the number of required parking spots from 11 to 10, a decrease in the signage setback along Route 59 from 10 feet to 7 feet, and permission to allow parking to encroach up to 15 feet into the required 20-foot major arterial setback.
The business’ sign would include the word “Naperville.”