Orland Park’s mayor, village clerk and trustees would be limited to how many terms they could serve under a referendum question voters in that suburb will see on the November ballot.
The 6-0 vote at Monday’s Village Board meeting, with members joining via videoconfering or by phone, reaffirmed a vote that had been taken in November 2018 to put the binding question on the November 2020.
If supported by voters in the Nov. 3 election, Orland Park’s municipal officials would be limited to three four-year terms, with limits beginning with those elected or re-elected next spring.
At a November 2018 board meeting, officials voted 4-3 to put the question on the November 2020 ballot, with Mayor Keith Pekau casting the tie-breaking vote, although the makeup of the board has changed since that vote.
At the time it had also been proposed that the question be put to voters in the April 2019, but some trustees said they believed that putting the matter on the ballot in the November 2020 general election would result in a larger turnout and a better measurement of the voters’ position on the issue.
Taking a follow-up vote was recommended by the village’s attorney, according to Mayor Keith Pekau.
When he ran for mayor in 2017, Pekau, who is up for re-election next spring, cited term limits as a priority.
A recent executive order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker suspends a requirement that board members attend meetings in person, due to the coronavirus.
Board meeting agendas now include directions for the public to participate, along with officials, through a videoconferencing application, such as GoToMeeting or Zoom, or by participating by phone. There was a public comment portion during the Orland Park, meeting but nobody spoke.
Church receives BEDS Plus permit
The board also approved a special use permit for Hope Covenant Church, putting to rest a controversy over the church opening its doors to the homeless in an initiative with BEDS Plus.
The church and village had, last November, reached a settlement on a lawsuit the village had filed against the church earlier that month which sought an injunction to stop the housing of homeless in the basement of the church.
As part of the settlement, Hope Covenant had to apply for a special use permit because the shelter was not considered an allowable use in a house of worship. The church was also required to address building code violations.
Tax break for furniture store site
Trustees also backed a Cook County property tax break for a building southeast of Orland Square Mall that at one point had been considered for a Carson’s department store.
The resolution supports a reduction in the assessment level for the 75,000-square-foot building, which previously housed a Carson’s Furniture Gallery. That closed in August 2018 after the bankruptcy of parent company The Bon-Ton Stores, which also resulted in the exit of the Carson’s department store from Orland Square, although the anchor spot has since been filled by department store chain Von Maur.
An Indiana company that had bought certain assets of Carson’s while it was in bankruptcy and reopened a bricks-and-mortar Carson’s in Evergreen Park had signed a lease in November 2018 to open a store in the former furniture outlet, but those plans fell through.
The property, 66 Orland Square Drive, is adjacent to Charter Fitness, Gizmo’s Fun Factory and Sky Zone Trampoline Park, and owners of the property said that high property taxes have been an obstacle in finding a new tenant.
Commercial property is assessed at 25% of fair market value, and the tax break would reduce that to 10%, or the level homes are assessed at, for three years. The level would rise to 15% in the fourth year, 20% in the fifth year then return to 25%.
Property owners said the former furniture store would be converted into a self-storage facility which would create eight full-time and four part-time jobs.