Politics & Government

New Restaurant Takes Next Step

Plan Commission approves rezoning for Saunders Road location.

A new Deerfield eatery offering a healthy menu in an environmentally friendly atmosphere took a step closer to reality when the Plan Commission recommended rezoning the anticipated Saunders Road location for use as a restaurant Thursday in a 5-1 vote.

“We are what we eat,” Upsana Abbott, a co-owner with her husband, Anil Abbot, said to the Plan Commissioners during the public hearing. “We want to promote health through balanced nutrition and healthy food.”

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The Abbots are no strangers to the area. They own the service station at the southeast corner of the intersection of Deerfield and Saunders Roads and plan to build their restaurant on a property adjacent to the south.

With a Ph.D. in nutritional science, Upsana Abbott plans to put her education into practice with the menu selections. Through composting and extensive recycling, the Abbotts plan to be as close to zero waste as possible, according to architect Brett Webster.

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“You’re not going to find a site with a dumpster or loading zone,” Webster said at the hearing. “The restaurant will keep what little trash it has inside and then have it removed,” he added explaining why provisions for a commercial waste hauler are not necessary.

A single family home dating to 1885 currently sits on the property. The Abbots plan to demolish it and erect a new building which will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. They expect the bulk of their customers to come for lunch from the surrounding office and research facilities like Baxter, Takeda and others.

If the Zoning Board of Appeals approves the requested variances later this month, the Village Board of Trustees will have the opportunity to vote on the entire package by early summer, according to Associate Planner Kathy LeVeque.

When the Abbotts first proposed the restaurant they were met with some skepticism from the Plan Commission but their efforts persuaded a number of commissioners to support the proposal after several workshop meetings.

“This is a first class operation,” Commissioner Robert Nadler, who was elected a Trustee Tuesday, said. He originally questioned the wisdom of the idea. “I am comforted because the Lake County Department of Transportation has approved it.” That ratification is necessary because of the county’s jurisdiction over the nearby intersection.

The proposal was not without opposition from neighbors from nearby Riverwoods on the west side of Saunders Road. David Schreiber, president of the Thornwood Homeowners Association, was against it.

“You’re going to have accidents,” Schreiber said. “This is a huge concern. Our association is against this. This business will be right in the middle of residential development.”

Another neighbor, Shannon Erickson, took a different view. “My mother lives there and she is thrilled,” he said. “So are a lot of other people. We’re excited this is getting developed.”

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