Unlimited watering of lawns would be banned in Glenview starting next year, under new, state-mandated restrictions given unanimous preliminary approval by village trustees on Tuesday.
If trustees give them final approval on Sept. 1, sprinkling on consecutive days will be banned between May 15 and Sept. 15, and Glenview will adopt an odd/even system.
That means if your address ends in an odd number, you can use your sprinkler on odd-numbered days; if it ends in an even number, you can use your sprinkler on even-numbered days.
Sprinkling will also be barred between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days per week instead of just weekdays, because those hours are when water loss to evaporation is strongest, officials said. No sprinkling will be allowed on the 31st day of any month.
A 90-day exception will be made for newly laid sod or newly planted foliage.
Joe Kenney, director of community development, said the village will launch a public education campaign before the restrictions take effect next May.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources in November 2014 changed the Water Allocation Rules and Regulations for communities tapping Lake Michigan water in an effort to conserve lake water and reduce its loss to evaporation.
The changes require those municipalities to update their ordinances restricting “non-essential outside water uses” by banning sprinkling on consecutive days between May 15 and Sept. 15 and during that 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. window.
Suburbs that have amended their sprinkling ordinances or are in the process of doing so include Lincolnwood, Park Ridge, Wheeling and Winnetka. Suburbs already using an odd/even system include Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines and Highland Park, officials said.
The village’s current ordinance, dating from 1990, already bans sprinkling between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., but only on weekdays. It also allows a 28-day exemption from that restriction for newly laid sod or planted foliage.
More Top Picks Best Baking Sheet
Trustees were given two versions of the new ordinance: one with the 28-day exemption, the other with a 90-day exemption. Trustees opted for the 90-day version.
In other business, trustees gave unanimous final approval for a special use permit allowing Ten-Ninety Brewing to open a brewpub at 1025 Waukegan Road and for the establishment to receive a Class K liquor license – the first to be issued in the village.
A Class K license allows the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption, facility tours with up to three 2-ounce samples, and the sale of packaged liquor in a facility that makes alcoholic beverages. That liquor may be sold only in a sealed container that is not opened or consumed at the brewpub, typically allowing visitors to take home growlers of beer.
The license requires a holder to have a valid state craft brewer’s license and offer either packaged or prepared food in the tasting room, and limits annual production to 157,500 gallons.
Under the special use permit, Ten-Ninety will be allowed to operate a tap room from 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ten-Ninety co-owner Brian Schafer said he plans to open the brewpub in December.
Jon Davis is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.