Council Is Being Asked to Approve a Drive-Thru Before the Business Is Named

A Special Use Permit application for a drive-thru restaurant at 110–120 W. Grant Highway appeared on the city council agenda for the second consecutive meeting on March 23. The application requests a drive-thru permit and three zoning variances but does not identify the business or operator behind the project. The council is being asked to approve the use before knowing what, specifically, they are approving.

The three requested variances are worth examining individually. Each one represents a deviation from the city's own zoning code for the B-2 Highway Business district. The specifics of the variances were not detailed in the public agenda materials. But the fact that an applicant needs three separate exceptions to open a restaurant on a commercial corridor raises a question: if the zoning code requires three waivers for a standard commercial use in a commercial zone, is the code well-calibrated for the uses the corridor is supposed to attract?

The council tabled the vote at its March 9 meeting after several aldermen raised concerns. Alderman Keenum questioned the traffic volume along the corridor, according to the minutes. Alderman Miller echoed that concern and asked about a proposed four-year term in the agreement. Alderman DeSerto described the application as lacking detail, calling it a blank canvas with too little information about what was actually being planned, per the March 9 minutes.

A blank canvas.

Alderman DeSerto, per March 9 minutes

Residents pushed back during public comment at the same meeting. One resident said he would like to know what the project involves before the council approves anything. The concern is reasonable: a Special Use Permit attaches to the property, not the operator. Once granted, the permit could be used by any future tenant that meets its terms.

Terry Sandman, who owns property at 110 S. State Street, used the same public comment period to raise a separate but related issue: the city's refusal to allow garage-type uses at his building, which he said has operated that way for 90 years, according to the minutes. His complaint illustrates a broader pattern in small-town zoning. Uses that existed for decades before modern zoning codes were adopted sometimes become nonconforming overnight when new regulations take effect. The question is whether the code is protecting residents from genuinely incompatible uses or simply prohibiting things that have worked fine for generations.

The Grant Highway corridor is Marengo's commercial strip. Route 20 (Grant Highway) carries traffic through town and hosts the majority of the city's chain and franchise businesses. Adding another drive-thru to the strip is a different proposition than adding a sit-down restaurant or mixed-use storefront. Drive-thrus generate traffic volume, require large asphalt pads for queuing, and produce a building form oriented toward cars rather than pedestrians. For a city whose 2024 comprehensive plan identifies walkability and downtown vitality as goals, the type of development matters as much as the fact of development.

The item returned on the March 23 agenda without additional information about the operator or the specific variances requested. Results of that vote will appear in the published minutes.