Code change allows Lombard trustees to hold liquor licenses
A Lombard village trustee has plans to move forward with the purchase of a wine shop in a downtown TIF district, after the village board approved two ordinances Thursday that will allow him to legally do so.
Trustee Dan Whittington and his wife, Colleen, have had an interest in buying the Vino Cellar, 141 W. St. Charles Road, for several months, but couldn't move forward due to the village's liquor license provisions and TIF requirements.
Whittington said the liquor-related restrictions on trustees have also hindered his job opportunities.
"I can't work in the industry that I want to work in, which is the sales and distribution of wines and spirits," he said. "I've had two jobs that were offered. One has gone away."
Village Manager Scott Niehaus said the village's liquor license provisions have historically mirrored state law.
For many years, those state statutes prohibited local elected officials from having an interest in anything related to the sale or consumption of liquor. That included being in possession of a liquor license, working for a liquor distributor or being an employee at a business that serves liquor, among other interests.
Niehaus said the state statute changed a few years ago to eliminate those restrictions. However, the Lombard village board never voted to update its code to match the state.
"When I was told about this I couldn't understand what the logic was and when I found out it was simply more of a clerical thing, that we just never kept up with the state changing their rules, that to me was a no brainer," said Village President Keith Giagnorio.
On Thursday, the board voted 5-0 to make the change, with Giagnorio and Trustee Bill Ware voicing strong support.
"We should never be discriminating upon anybody's ability to make a living or how they make a living," Ware said.
Despite the change, Whittington and any future Lombard elected officials with an interest in liquor sales will be prohibited from voting on liquor licenses or partaking in board discussions about enforcement of liquor licenses.
In addition, the board voted 5-0 to take the building the Vino Cellar is located in out of a downtown tax increment financing district.
Illinois law states that elected officials cannot have a leasehold interest of one month or greater, other than a month-to-month lease in a TIF district.
"The owner of this property has specifically written a letter to the village requesting that the property be removed from the TIF," Niehaus said. "The owner has acknowledged what that would mean to him and has stated that his desire is to have a long term business lease there. The village wouldn't consider this unless we had received that correspondence."