Difficulties experienced by other towns in trying to shutter sexually oriented businesses have not been lost on village officials.
When a resident last week questioned the necessity of zoning regulations limiting the areas in which such businesses can locate, one Plan Commission member answered, “Ask the village of Lansing.”
It is the prolonged battle that municipality has waged to close down Thee Body Shoppe, a strip club, that provides one example why Tinley Park wants to make a pre-emptive strike against such clubs, as well as against massage parlors and stores dealing in adult merchandise.
“The intent is to make it as restrictive as possible and in as confined an area as possible,” commission chairman Ron Bruning said. “This is probably as restrictive as we can make it.”
Plan Commission members voted last week to recommend the Village Board restrict any such proposed businesses, of which at present there are none in the village, to areas zoned for manufacturing.
The only area in town that fits that category is south of 183rd Street and west of 80th Avenue near Interstate Highway 80, said planning director Tom Durkin.
More Top Picks Best Sleep Headphones For Insomnia
The zoning change also would require them to locate at least 1,000 feet from churches, schools, residences and parks, and to apply for a special-use permit. Village Board members last month approved a companion ordinance spelling out licensing requirements for such businesses.
Federal and state courts generally have ruled towns cannot ban such businesses.