Deerfield Gives Green Light to Peapod

At the board of trustees meeting Tuesday, Peapod officially got the go-ahead to open a grocery pick-up and drive-thru in the former Amcore Bank building at 677 Lake Cook Rd near Home Depot.

A first consideration of Peapod’s request for a zoning text amendment and special use request occurred Aug. 20.  The village approved both requests, but asked for a follow-up response to three areas of concern before the final stamp of approval.

Those included an explanation as to why the village would not generate sales tax from items picked up at the future Deerfield location, and questions on whether Peapod was willing to make aesthetic improvements to the building and support the “engine turn-off” policy.

Bruce Chanen, attorney for Peapod, said the company was agreeable to the last two requests.

“We completely agree, and wish to achieve a more colorful and visually pleasing building, and we certainly will help to educate drivers about the benefits of turning off their engines while waiting for pick-up, instead of letting them idle,” Channon said.

But when the discussion came around to the generation of local sales tax, Chanen said the issue normally comes up in each municipality Peapod locates their parcel pick-up centers.

“Unfortunately, Peapod is a very traditional example of [an] online retailer. Customers go online, place orders at our central location in Lake Zurich and finalize their purchase there,” Chanen said.

Chanen said because taxing authorities deem the Lake Zurich location the point of sale, the company has not found a way to distribute sales tax generation to all of its pick-up locations.

When asked if Lake Zurich would receive sales tax dollars from purchases made by Deerfield residents, Chanen said he did not have the answer to that question.

He did however point out the benefits in welcoming Peapod into the village.

“We think the company will bring vitality to a currently dark space, including increased traffic to existing businesses in the area which leads to new customers,” Chanen said.