Orchard Road restaurant liquor license supported

A small restaurant offering food, drinks and video gaming may replace the SubMore sandwich shop that adjoins a gas station and mini-mart at Orchard and Aucutt roads on Montgomery's west side.

A majority of village board members voiced support Monday evening to a request from the owner of the SubMore and Orchard Shop Station for a liquor license for the proposed restaurant.

The restaurant would be owned and operated by TOPLAY, LLC, a newly formed company owned and operated by Rocky Zaiter, owner of the SubMore and Orchard Stop Station.

Zaiter told the board that his gas station and mini mart have been successful since he opened it 11 years ago, despite the 2008 recession and two years of construction on Orchard Road. However, he said the SubMore has not been profitable for many years.

He added the pending opening of new gas stations along Orchard Road south of U.S. Route 30 in the village could put his business at a disadvantage.

Currently, a Murphy Oil gas station is under construction just north of the Wal-Mart store on the south side of Route 30 and the board approved plans for the construction of a Speedway gas station and mini mart Monday evening at the southeast corner of Orchard Road and Caterpillar Drive. Speedway officials told the board they expect to build the station next year.

Referring to the new gas stations, Zaiter said, "We know we have competition and that is fair."

But Zaiter noted the new gas stations south of Route 30 will have a significant financial advantage over his station because they are in the Kendall County portion of the village.

In a letter to the board, he explained the Kendall County gas stations are able to sell less expensive conventional gasoline while his station in the Kane County portion of the village, must sell more expensive reformulated gasoline.

Zaiter explained, "The difference in price between conventional and reformulated gasoline could be as much as 30 cents per gallon. Additionally we pay four cents per gallon (more) to Kane County, while our competitors would pay nothing to Kendall County. This cost disadvantage alone would put us at a tremendous disadvantage."

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Orchard Road restaurant liquor license supported