Hanover Park may lift happy-hour ban after more than 30 years
Decades after Hanover Park banned happy hours to counteract the suburb's reputation as a place for excessive drinking, village board members Thursday night will consider lifting the restriction.
Village President Rod Craig said ban was enacted in the 1980s, when the community's notoriety resulted in frequent jokes throughout the region, even from WGN radio personality Bob Collins.
"We were feeling victimized by the consequences," Craig said. "We're very sensitive about our reputation."
The village's ban of happy hours predated a statewide prohibition that ran from 1989 to 2015. Craig said he didn't realized the state's ban had been lifted until a few months ago, when he was asked about the village's regulations by the new owner of Prairie Station Pub & Grill.
After looking into the matter, Craig said he reached the conclusion as the village's liquor control commissioner that Hanover Park no longer needed to treat its bars and restaurants differently than neighboring communities do.
"Hanover Park has come so far," he said. "I'm very proud. We've reduced crime nine years in a row."
And because of that, the village's businesses should no longer be at a disadvantage, he added.
"We'll take a step forward," Craig said. "We want to help our businesses. I think they're all very responsible. Video gambling has helped with that. No one wants to lose their liquor license."
Raj Thakkar, who bought Prairie Station Pub & Grill about a year ago after more than 15 years in the banking industry, said he asked Craig about the competitive disadvantage he was seeing. His pub is directly across the street from the train station, and Thakkar said the ability to have a happy hour could attract commuters after work.
"Why not bring them back here?" Thakkar said. "Everyone offers it. Why not Hanover Park?"
The Illinois Liquor Control Commission doesn't track which municipalities have bans, but Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico explained why his city intends to keep its prohibition.
"There's a belief that offering drink specials limited to a narrow amount of time encourages people to slam drinks," Chirico said.
But there are still many promotional strategies open to Naperville businesses, such as offering free appetizers during a specific period or lowering drink prices during entire days of the week, he added.
Hanover Park neighbors Bartlett, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg do not ban happy hours, but Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod pointed out that state law still imposes a number of restrictions.
Among them are limiting happy hours to four hours a day, 15 hours a week, and before 10 p.m.
Prohibited promotions include the sale of multiple drinks for the price of one, establishing set prices for an unlimited number of drinks, increasing the amount of liquor in a drink without a proportional increase in price, and any game or contest that involves drinking alcohol or awards a drink as a prize.
The Hanover Park village board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at village hall, 2121 W. Lake St.