As the food service industry looks at different ways to generate revenue during the coronavirus pandemic, many municipalities throughout Lake County have changed ordinances to allow for alcohol purchases on carryout and delivery orders.
The villages of Vernon Hills, Mundelein and Libertyville are just some of the communities allowing for the new service as part of their emergency orders that were passed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The Illinois Liquor Commission also issued guidance on the policy change in mid-March.
The temporary move generally allows restaurants with liquor licenses the permit the sale of alcohol on their premises to include those purchases on curbside pickup and delivery orders.
Michael Atkinson, director of community development for Vernon Hills, said village officials wanted to permit the service to try and support local businesses that may be hurting amid the state’s stay-at-home order. Vernon Hills officials recently extended the life of their ordinance during a meeting April 7.
Some stipulations still exist despite the change in policy. Per the direction of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, alcohol included in carryout and delivery orders must be in its original packaging. Age and hour of service restrictions also apply.
Local municipalities also can craft their own guidelines. Mundelein restaurants, for example, are limited to single cans of beer and bottles of wine, village officials said.
Officials in Libertyville, Mundelein and Vernon Hills say the jury still is out on how effective this policy has been in helping businesses during the pandemic, but they’ve been encouraged by the responses.
Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler said he has not talked with businesses about the success of the policy, but said restaurants seem happy the change was made.
Atkinson said businesses in Vernon Hills also have responded favorably.
“To date, we haven’t received any complaints or violations,” he said. “It, overall, seems to be going quite well.”
Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz said the ordinance may have helped stymie negative consequences for businesses after speaking with some of them about it. But he said businesses still are hurting and called on his residents to help them in any way they can.
“It’s not enough to change the fact that restaurants moving to takeout for this season really have been severely impacted negatively,” Lentz said. “We need the community to step up more. … This is a tough season for everyone.”