A Naperville-based Dunkin Donuts franchisee has accused City Hall of wrongly icing the construction of their new restaurant on Chicago’s South Side, asserting permits for the project were approved, but then promptly yanked after work had begun, at the demand of a Chicago alderman.
On March 9, Raina Archer LLC filed suit against the city of Chicago in Cook County Circuit Court.
Attorneys Eugene E. Murphy Jr. and David F. Hyde, of the Murphy Law Group, of Chicago, are representing Raina Archer in the matter.
The complaint takes aim at city officials' decision earlier this year to rescind permits that had been issued to Raina Archer for the construction of a new Dunkin Donuts restaurant over a former parking lot on the northwest corner of South Archer Avenue and South Leavitt Street, in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood.
That area of the city is represented by 12th Ward Ald. George Cardenas.
According to the complaint, Raina Archer, though based in Naperville, operates 40 fast food restaurants, including 25 Dunkin Donuts restaurants, most of which are located on Chicago’s South Side. The complaint asserts Raina Archer has operated in Chicago’s 12th Ward for more than 20 years.
The complaint alleges aldermanic approval was not required for the project, as it did not require a zoning change. However, the plaintiffs assert they attempted to gain the approval of Ald. Cardenas on multiple occasions in the late winter and spring of 2020, including having a representative of the company attend a Cardenas campaign event in March 2020.
According to the complaint, after many attempts at meeting with Cardenas failed, an email from a Cardenas spokesperson allegedly indicated the alderman wished to have more of a complete picture of the overall redevelopment of the site, including for an adjacent building that the Raina Archer developers allegedly had no control over.
According to the complaint, Raina Archer developers told the alderman’s office that building was controlled by others, and would be leased by others. However, they still sought a “letter of support” from the alderman.
They also asserted the project had been reviewed by the city’s planning department, which had recommended the project move forward.
According to the complaint, Raina Archer formally requested the required special use permit from the city in June 2020, and had the matter placed before the Zoning Board of Appeals in September. In the meantime, Raina Archer asserts it also received a positive recommendation from the Chicago Department of Transportation for its traffic plan, including a drive thru.
The ZBA allegedly approved the special use permit in October, and later received approval from CDOT for its driveways permit and for its stormwater plan.
The building permit was issued Jan. 2, 2021, and construction began two days later. The foundation was poured, the complaint said.
However, between Jan. 4 and Jan. 11, the complaint asserts, two of the required permits were voided, with the city asserting they still required CDOT review and approval.
According to the complaint, Raina Archer received notice that the permits had been rescinded on Jan. 14, as the city was “re-reviewing the driveway permits and approval.”
Raina Archer asserts in its complaint that nothing in their plans had changed.
“However, what did change is that Alderman Cardenas … asked the City Department of Planning for a comprehensive review of the Archer Project,” the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Cardenas posted a statement on Facebook asserting “the construction permit had been put on hold and that (Raina Archer) needed to work with Alderman Cardenas’s office first.”
In the statement, Cardenas further claimed “his office had not been notified or involved in the zoning review process.”
After allegedly spending weeks seeking clarification from various city officials, Raina Archer said Cardenas’s office subjected the developers and their proposed project to “several false claims and unwarranted opposition … for the first time since the inception of the project,” at a virtual community meeting for 12th Ward residents on Feb. 10.
As of the lawsuit filing date, the permits had yet to be reissued, the complaint said, and the developers have “not been advised of the procedure to obtain new permits.”
According to the complaint, the developers are seeking a court order requiring the city to reissue the permits, and allow them to complete the project.