A Naperville gas station took an initial step toward adding a drive-thru for a yet-to-be-determined quick-service restaurant this week when it won the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission endorsement.

The station is the BP at the southwest corner of Ogden Avenue and North Aurora Road, and the request to add a drive-thru comes from CIMA Developers, the real estate development arm of The PRIDE Stores.

Dan Soltis, CIMA’s vice president of real estate, said the company took ownership of the station in early 2025 and is investing to improve a store that’s “not hitting its potential.”

Soltis said a Dunkin Donuts franchisee is the target tenant for a portion of the existing BP To Go convenience store on the property at 1532 N. Aurora Road. The development company and doughnut shop are negotiating but don’t yet have a lease, he said.

To prepare for Dunkin or another restaurant use, CIMA is seeking city permission to build a drive-thru lane with “stacking” — or space to line up — for 12 cars. The plan also would include a 66-foot-long partial bypass lane for cars to exit the line before the pickup window.

The request, now unanimously endorsed by the commission, needs Naperville City Council approval because the bypass lane wouldn’t run the entire length of the drive-thru and because gas stations are now considered a conditional use within the B3 zoning district where the property lies.

Anna Franco, with the city’s planning services team, said staff approves of the request for a conditional use because the station is at a major intersection and operating a gas station there is consistent with the future place type listed in the land-use master plan.

She said staff also approves of the zoning variance needed to include a partial bypass lane instead of a full one with one condition: city staff would evaluate the need for stacking space after the restaurant user is identified.

Commission Chair Whitney Robbins said this condition makes her comfortable that the city is protected should the restaurant chosen for the site generate too much traffic. Several commissioners asked questions to clarify this, citing concerns about backups generated by the 7 Brew drive-thru coffee shop also along Ogden and city hesitation to allow a plan from another drive-thru coffee shop — Dutch Bros — to move forward.

“If they bring forward a Dutch Bros-type user, then how can we stop them from going in?” Commissioner Tom Castagnoli said.

“If someone came in with a history of quite a lot of traffic like one of the fast coffee shops you mentioned,” Franco told commissioners, “we may find that the site is insufficient for that user and that they would need to then request a major change to the conditional use.”

If such a situation occurred, the proposal would need approval again by both the commission and the council, Franco said.

Marie Wilson is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/drive-thru-bp-station-naperville-commission/