Lake Forest City Council OKs Revenue Sharing Deal to Keep New Mariano's on Track

Lake Forest, IL—The Lake Forest City Council unanimously approved a revenue sharing agreement with neighboring Bannockburn on Monday, a move that clears the way for the creation of a new Mariano's grocery store location near the southern city limits, the Daily North Shore reports.

One resident, however, objected to the move at the council's meeting Monday, June 20, saying that the area doesn't need three grocers in such close proximity to one another, the report stated. Not approving the revenue sharing agreement would also kill the Mariano's development deal, the report added.

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With the agreement in place, Lake Forest and Bannockburn are now able to split the sales tax generated by Mariano's, which plans to develop a tract of land near Waukegan and Half Day roads in unincorporated Lake County, the report stated. Lake Forest will receive 40 percent in the deal, and Bannockburn will capture the remaining 60 percent in sales tax, the report added.

In order for that to happen, Bannockburn now will annex the unincorporated land, the report stated.

In response to the argument that the council should have nixed the agreement because Lake Forest doesn't need another grocery store, officials said that would only hurt the city, according to the Daily North Shore. Although the deal with the grocer and Lake Forest (as well as Bannockburn) would have been eliminated, Mariano's probably then would have gone through Lake County to build the store on that land anyway.

More via the Daily North Shore

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