South Holland is no longer a dry town.
A pancake house received South Holland’s first liquor license this month. The south suburb recently passed an ordinance allowing restaurants to sell alcohol — as long as it is served with food.
Blueberry Field Pancake House and Restaurant will start offering mimosas on its breakfast menu beginning sometime in September, owner Patte Haras said Friday.
The South Holland Village Board eased the rules to boost its downtown area and encourage fine-dining options to come to the village. Residents have long called for a change so that they can go to dinner in their community and spend their money locally, the village said Friday.
“With this development, we look forward to a bright future of progress and development, but doing so in a way that holds steadfast to our longstanding values of faith and family,” Mayor Don De Graff said in a news release.
Discussions with community, church and business leaders about allowing liquor sales began about five years ago. “The strong sentiment was that we can change what we do, without changing who we are,” the village said.
Restaurants within the U.S. 6 corridor, village center and an area near the Bishop Ford Expressway are the only ones permitted to sell booze. The village maintained its restrictions on packaged liquor sales and bars.
“So while the board has absolutely no interest in ever having liquor stores or saloons in South Holland, the Village Board agreed to allow alcohol, in very limited portions of town, as long as it is served with food,” the village said.
South Holland previously passed an ordinance allowing alcohol sales when developers proposed a hotel and restaurant near the expressway. But due to COVID-19, the development was never started.
The Illinois Liquor Control Commission couldn’t say with certainty Friday that South Holland was the last dry town in the Chicago area or statewide. Kenilworth voted to allow liquor sales in 2017.
The South Holland Village Hall, 16226 Wausau Ave. Years of discussion preceded a vote by the village board to end the community’s dry status, if only in a very limited way. Restaurants within the U.S. 6 corridor, village center district and an area near the Bishop Ford Expressway are the only ones permitted to sell booze. The village maintained its restrictions on packaged liquor sales and bars.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Time
