Four candidates running April 1 for three open seats on the La Grange Village Board traded ideas on the downtown business district, downtown parking, and improving infrastructure during a voters forum last week sponsored by the Citizens’ Council of La Grange at the Elm Restaurant.
One of the main topics candidates addressed centered on the village’s rules for businesses that sell alcohol.
First-time candidate Carla Carter, an intellectual property attorney and commercial litigator, got right to the point about what she felt was the downtown business district’s main challenge.
“The first is the 60/40 rule,” she said when asked about challenges to the downtown business community by moderator and CCLG Chair Todd Van Cleave.
La Grange ordinance mandates establishments serving liquor must derive 60% of profits from food sales.
The argument for relaxing or eliminating the rule is that some establishments, like MAK’s House or Milk Money Brewing, are reluctant to stay open as long as they legally can because they would be in danger of breaking the 60/40 rule.
Carter learned of the issue while serving on the Restaurant Committee of the La Grange Business Association and said restaurant owners told her it “was hard to do business in La Grange.”
“That’s a bad sign,” she said.
Behind the reluctance of some to relax the rule are fears of negative behavior that can accompany overconsumption of alcohol.
Village President Mark Kuchler, running for reelection unopposed, cited such incidents in defending the 60/40 rule, including one in Stone Park where a bar patron was shot and killed by a bouncer trying to break up a fight.
“That’s not what the majority of La Grange wants and it’s not what we’re looking for,” he said. “We want to continue to be a restaurant destination. We’ve been a great downtown because of village rules.”
Peggy Peterson, running for her second term on the Village Board, said she’s heard from both sides in the debate about the 6040 rule, and indicated restaurant owners are interested in “having a little more flexibility.”
“I was surprised to hear that many of the restaurant owners are saying that nobody comes in after 9,” she said.
A bigger challenge to the village’s downtown is the limited availability of parking, especially on weekends, “and there’s no real solution for that.” Kuchler said. He said officials are working on revising downtown parking regulations and arrangements with nearby Cossitt School to share parking.
Peterson said the parking squeeze is an indication that the village is attracting many visitors.
“It’s a great problem to have,” she said. “I do agree with the idea that we’re trying to have employees park on the second or third floor of the parking garage, so that would leave more space for shoppers and people interested in our restaurants.”
Beyond the downtown area, infrastructure plans were a hot topic as well.
Incumbent board member Lou Gale, who said that this would be his last term on the board, said that flooding was his main focus. Building relationships with state and federal leaders, along with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, would be key in helping the village resolve flooding issues.
“So that we have the relationships that when it comes time to finally build the 50th Street storm sewer we have the funding available to do so. We need those living partners with us, because otherwise it’s just going to be too heavy a lift to do it on our own,” he said.
Fellow incumbent board member Glenn Thompson, who is active in the Dry Up La Grange movement that began with massive flooding in 2021, agreed the 50th Street project needs to be a priority.
Kuchler noted extreme flooding around the corner of Sunset and Elm avenues.
“That problem can only be solved by running a pipe to someplace,” he said, “and what makes most sense would be a pipe under a storage tank under West Field,” which is owned by Lyons Township High School. But, he said, federal funds for this project are currently frozen.
Paul Saladino, who is running unopposed for his second term as village clerk, said this would be his last term. He said when he became clerk, ordinances were still being kept manually in a two-foot stack of records.
“Now it’s about two or three months out to where it should go live online and it will finally be usable for our citizens,” Saladino said.
The three candidates for the La Grange Park District Board, incumbents Bob Vear and Chris Weber and newcomer Greg Carter, all showed up despite running unopposed.
Carter is a retired firefighter and a first-time candidate for any political office.
“It’s kind of nice that I’m running unopposed,” he said. “It’ll make it a little easier on me, but there’s still a lot to learn. There was a lot to learn just to get to this point.”
As for his motives for running, Carter spoke of the community.
“I’m becoming a townie here in La Grange,” he said, “and I say that because I’ve never felt as attached to a town as I do to La Grange.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
