Bartlett wonders if ordinance language is limiting business

Bartlett village officials spent time reconsidering ordinance language of what is classified as a “desirable” business, acknowledging the need to fill the empty downtown storefronts.

“We sure know we have to do something with the town center across the street. We gotta do something,” Bartlett Mayor Michael Kelly said at the village's plan commission meeting Tuesday.

The developer of the town center controls what type of business it rents to, but language in the village ordinance names so-called nondesirable businesses like convenience stores, social clubs, game rooms and more.

Kelly said he thinks people have taken their businesses elsewhere after seeing the restrictions and deciding it wasn't worth fighting the village to reconsider.

“There are businesses that have moved on because of the highly restrictive language in the ordinance,” he said.

The language, which the mayor described as “not written in stone,” is not meant to exclude certain types businesses. However, Trustee John Kavouris said that “no one's going to want to pay” to ask the village to let a business in.

Kelly noted that businesses have not been turned away, citing the coin laundry that was approved once it agreed not to have a dry cleaning plant on-site.

Trustee Michael Airdo said that the restrictions came from the developer, not the village.

Referring to the inclusion of social clubs as nondesirable, Airdo said, “He didn't want the Moose. He wanted places like La Dolce Vita — high-end uses to make a lot of money so he can charge a lot of money.”