Oak Park may soon become home to a craft brewery.
The Village Board voted Monday to refer a zoning amendment to the Plan Commission that would allow craft breweries to locate in the general business district as a special use. The board also forwarded an application to open a craft brewery at 6806 Roosevelt Road.
The commission will hold a public hearing for the text amendment Nov. 6, according to village documents.
“The whole time I’ve been thinking about opening up a brewery, I’ve been thinking about doing it in Oak Park,” Steve Loranz, the applicant, told trustees. “We want to prop this area up.”
Loranz said the operation would be much smaller than a typical brewery and likely would include a tap room, but no kitchen. He added that they would be self-distributing for some time and wouldn’t have large trucks coming in and out of the corridor.
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Loranz said Wednesday that he and his business partner were hoping to finalize the purchase of the property soon, noting that there’s much left to do before the dream becomes a reality.
“It’s a long process to learn the industry and figure out everything you need to get started,” he said. “We are really kind of in the infancy of this.”
Loranz, who has lived in the village for about 10 years, has an associate certificate in brewing technology from Siebel Institute of Technology and interned at 5 Rabbit Brewery in Bedford Park.
“We’ve all expressed concerns recently about Roosevelt Road trying to get more development going,” said Trustee Peter Barber. “This sounds like a great opportunity.”
The brewery proposal comes amid an ongoing discussion about whether to allow bars to set up shop in Oak Park. The village’s liquor laws currently require any establishment serving alcohol to also serve food.