Frankfort Village Board Greenlights Dutch Bros Coffee Drive-Through on LaGrange Road

Frankfort Village Board Meeting | April 20, 2026

Article Summary: The Village Board approved a series of Special Use Permits and a Major Change to a Planned Unit Development to allow the construction of a new Dutch Bros Coffee location, featuring a drive-through and walk-up window, in the Frankfort Crossing shopping center.

Dutch Bros Coffee Key Points:

• The 1,264-square-foot coffee shop will be built on the final vacant lot (Lot 1) in the Market Street West Retail Development, just north of Potbelly.

• The Board approved extended operating hours, allowing the business to open at 5:00 a.m. to accommodate early commuters.

• The site plan provides 29 parking spaces, exceeding the 13 required by code, and features a dual-lane drive-through capable of stacking up to 17 vehicles, with an overflow plan to handle up to 37 cars.

• Final construction is contingent upon written approval from Potbelly regarding shared access easement modifications.

The Frankfort Village Board on Monday, April 20, 2026, paved the way for a new coffee option in town, unanimously approving a Major Change to a Planned Unit Development (PUD) and three Special Use Permits for a Dutch Bros Coffee location at 20900 S. LaGrange Road.

The new ±1,264-square-foot establishment will occupy Lot 1 of the Buona Frankfort Subdivision, serving as the final piece of the Market Street West Retail Development. Dutch Bros Coffee operates primarily as a drive-through and walk-up model without interior customer seating.

To accommodate this unique business model, the Board passed Ordinance No. 3559 to approve the PUD Major Change and Ordinance No. 3560 to grant Special Use Permits for a carry-out restaurant, drive-up service windows, and extended hours of operation. The extended hours allow the shop to operate from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week.

Trustee Gene Savaria presented the item, noting the applicant requested several modifications from standard Village requirements. These included a waiver of the enclosure of operations requirement to allow for the walk-up window, permission to install a single-color wall sign on the south building wall facing Lot 2, an allowance for a second wall sign on the east building elevation, and permission to install a snap-frame menu board on the north wall. The Board also approved increasing the maximum pre-sale menu board area from 10 square feet to 10.7 square feet.

Traffic and stacking efficiency were central to the proposal’s review. The site plan boasts 29 parking spaces—well above the Village’s requirement of 13—including three dedicated spaces for mobile order pick-ups. The dual-lane drive-through is designed to stack 17 vehicles within the curb-protected area and features a 12.5-foot bypass lane for exiting customers.

According to the business narrative submitted by Eric Pedersen of Keystone Planning & Design, Dutch Bros employs “Runners” equipped with tablets to take orders in line, keeping the queue moving efficiently with an average wait time of 45 seconds. Should traffic exceed the 17-car capacity, staff will be deployed to direct an additional nine vehicles to queue along the north edge of the parking lot. In extreme peak conditions, up to 11 more vehicles can stack along the west side of the site, accommodating a total of 37 vehicles before impacting the main shared access drive to LaGrange Road. The applicant has also committed to hiring off-duty police officers to direct traffic during the opening weeks.

Aesthetically, the building’s architecture was designed to harmonize with the existing PUD. Following feedback from the Plan Commission, the applicant agreed to use full-dimensional masonry, specifically Modular Brick Veneer in “Belcrest 560” and split-face stone in “Riesling,” matching the adjacent Verizon, CD One Price Cleaners, and Potbelly buildings. The applicant also agreed to maintain a gray metal cornice rather than their corporate blue, and relocated the building’s address numbers to the window glass to maintain consistency with the plaza.

Final approval remains conditioned upon the applicant obtaining written consent from the property and business owners of Potbelly (Lot 2) regarding the proposed drive-through lane and necessary access easement modifications.