Mokena Suspends Village Codes To Help With Outdoor Dining

MOKENA, IL — At the village board meeting May 26, the Mokena village board approved a resolution which suspended certain village codes to help support local businesses with outdoor dining.

"In order to move quickly and to accommodate our restaurants, we need to suspend our current regulations for outdoor dining, temporary tents, and regulations for promotional signs," Director of Economic and Community Alan Zordan said at the meeting May 26.

Zordan told Patch the current ordinances would not be suitable for the needs or restaurants right now.

"We are taking a more flexible approach in helping our restaurants comply with the governor’s recent guidelines for phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan."

As part of phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan, restaurants and bars are now allowed to have outdoor dining with guidelines including tables six feet apart, face coverings for staff and tables away from the sidewalk when possible.

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Board documents state that the resolution also allows village staff to respond to businesses in a "timely manner" to determine if outdoor dining, tent usage or promotional signage should be allowed.

The resolution goes into effect May 29, the same day restaurants and bars are allowed to open for outdoor dining.

Several trustees stated their support for local businesses, including Trustee James Richmond.

"Anything we can do to make sure that this process goes as quickly as possible...let's move these things through for these folks, so they can at least start trying to put food back on the table for their families," Richmond said.

Mayor Frank Fleischer said the village can "only do so much for our businesses," and that the governor is the one who can help the community.

"He's got to understand that one size does not fit all," Fleischer said. "We have businesses in our community that can open up."

Fleischer added that smaller sized restaurants could safely open for indoor dining.

"[The governor] should not call the shots on the local level," Fleischer said. "He should set up a criteria, allow us to follow that criteria, and we're big boys and big girls in Mokena, we can figure it out."

Patch has reached out to the village for more information on outdoor dining in town.