Aurora City Council to vote on rezoning for West Side restaurant

Aurora City Council to vote on rezoning for West Side restaurant

The Aurora City Council is set to vote on rezoning for a new restaurant at a large West Side intersection in the city.

Aldermen will vote Tuesday night on rezoning and final plat approval for a development at the southwest corner of Lake Street and Indian Trail. Because the council put the items on the consent agenda, they are expected to pass.

Under the plan, the 1.5-acre site would be home to Mariscos El Vallartizo, a seafood restaurant and the fourth to be opened by Martha Delgadillo. She also owns restaurants in West Chicago and Joliet, as well as one in North Carolina.

The location, a former commercial property that has been closed for a while, is made up of four parcels. Three of them are zoned B-3 for business and one is R-1 residential, because it has an old house on it. The owner is in the process of getting permits to demolish the house.

At one time, the property held a liquor store, and a member of the family lived behind the store in the house.

The developer is looking to get B-3 zoning for the whole parcel.

Tracey Vacek, Aurora senior planner, has said B-3 zoning was chosen because most of the property already has that zoning. It also matches the B-3 zoning running west along Indian Trail.

Delgadillo would use about 8,000 square feet of the building for the restaurant, and the rest would be restaurant storage. There would be 77 parking spaces on the property.

The owners also are asking for several setback variances from both Indian Trail and Lake Street for the development.

The intersection is a major one on Lake Street, which is a state highway and an entrance to the city, particularly to downtown. Indian Trail is also a major thoroughfare in town – going east and west – running from the city’s boundary with Naperville on the east, to past Orchard Road on the far West Side.

Delgadillo said the seafood restaurant could be open in four to five months.

slord@tribpub.com