The Tinley Park Village Board voted Tuesday to put a six-month moratorium on certain business licenses and zoning permits in an effort to align development with an upcoming comprehensive development plan.
For the next six months, the village will not issue new businesses licenses for 13 different types of establishments including grocery stores, coffee shops, gas stations, salons, dry cleaning and hotels.
The board will also not grant development approvals for building permits, zoning relief requests, site plan approvals or any other discretionary administrative approvals under the Village Code.
The moratorium does not apply to certain actions taken before the ordinance passed Tuesday, such as businesses already operating lawfully or any application for identified use that has received final approval, among other requirements.
The ordinance may be extended or renewed as necessary. Village Manager Pat Carr said Tuesday night he is unsure if the moratorium will end after six months, as this is the first moratorium on these types of licenses since he began working for the village in the last six years.
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Carr said the ordinance, which the village has worked on for four to six weeks, is the culmination of over a year’s work on a larger village planning initiative that began in 2024, known as Tinley in Tune. This plan aims to create a community led vision for the next five to 10 years. The previous comprehensive plan was more than 15 to 20 years old, Carr said.
He said it’s really just a pause on what the village is doing to ask what is really going to serve the residents in those specific areas.
The ordinance states the vision will be to promote sustainable and balanced economic growth, support a diverse and vibrant business community, enhance the character, aesthetics and walkability of certain commercial areas, ensure development consistent with the village’s identity and encourage land use that strengthens neighborhood vitality and long-term tax base stability.
Carr said village officials want to be more strategic where they place developments, such as placing a grocery store in a food desert or avoiding putting too many hotels in one area.
He said the final Tinley In-Tune Comprehensive Plan 2040 will be announced in the next month and said it is based on community input gathered at meetings over the past year.
“There’s been a lot of time put into it, and a lot of investment of the community, of businesses partners, to, you know, really see what our vision is going to be moving in the future,” Carr said. “That’s really what it’s about, is us building the foundation now, so for the future, they could continue to build on it as they progress.”
For residents interested in starting a business, Carr said to revisit and come back in six months.