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the Mokena Messenger | May 24, 2018 | 5
Village of Mokena Board of Trustees
Mokena Brewing Co gets special use permit
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
There will soon be another
brewery in town to
frequent, after the Village
of Mokena Board of Trustees
voted 6-0 May 14 to approve
a special use permit
for Mokena Brewing Company.
Steve Smolinske, on
behalf of Mokena Brewing
Company, requested
the special use permit to
operate a 6,751-square-foot
alcohol production facility
at 19031 Old LaGrange
Road.
“This will specifically
be a brewery and it will
include a tasting room in
Suites 200 and 201 of that
multitenant building,” Mokena
Director of Economic
and Community Development
Alan Zordan said during
the presentation at the
Village Board meeting.
Other tenants in the
building include Stoney
Point Grill, an off-track
betting facility and Bridgeview
Bank.
As part of the special use
permit agreement, Zordan
said the Village would grant
the business a Class G liquor
license, which would
allow the brewery to produce
the beer and be consumed
on-site, as well as
be sold for distribution for
consumption off-site. Zordan
said it would operate
similar to the Tribes Beer
Co. site on Front Street.
In terms of parking concerns,
staff estimated 199
available spaces in the
parking lot surrounding the
building.
“We do see that if all the
spaces were to fill up as we
are assuming, there would
be a possible shortage of
about 20 spaces overall,”
Zordan said. “However,
we’re not certain what
the [future vacant building]
land uses would be.
[Also], there is a sizable
parking field in the multitenant
field next door, and
just a block away is the
Metra commuter lot at the
Round it up
A brief recap of other items discussed at the May 14
Mokena Board of Trustees meeting.
• Bernardin’s, a landscaping design and lawn
maintenance business located in Mokena, was
recognized in honor of its 65th anniversary.
• Also during the meeting, Village Finance Director
Barb Damron presented the annual Post-Issuance Tax
Compliance Report to the Village Board, which states
that the Village is in compliance with all applicable tax
law requirements. Damron said this is a “housekeeping
item,” and it did not require any formal voting action by
the board members.
• As part of the consent agenda, Mokena trustees
voted 6-0 to approve a special event request from the
Mokena Community Park District that allows municipal
resources to be used for the park district’s 14th annual
Farm & Barn Fest, scheduled for Aug. 11 at Yunker
Farm.
Hickory Creek station. So,
any parking issues should
be able to be addressed in
the future.”
Zordan said the proposed
hours of operation would
be: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays;
closed on Mondays;
and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesdays
through Saturdays.
Live indoor entertainment
is proposed, as well.
As part of the special use
permit, the applicant would
agree to several items, including:
not having any
video gaming terminals on
the premises; the alcoholic
beverages sold for off-site
consumption will be limited
to only those beverages
produced on-site; and
upon completion of the
kitchen area, the applicant
will be able to sell alcohol
produced on-site, as well as
alcohol packaged and produced
off-site.
The special use permit
agreement also would allow
the applicant to sell wine
not produced by the facility
for consumption on-site.
A full-service restaurant
component of the business
is planned to open between
12-18 months after the
brewery opens.
It is anticipated that the
brewery could open sometime
this fall.
Talking trash
During his comments
to the board later in the
meeting, Mayor Frank
Fleischer mentioned he
has seen several residents
leaving their garbage
cans out in front of their
houses. He said the Village
Board had previously put
together an ordinance disallowing
that.
“It’s gotten worse,”
Fleischer said. “There
are garbage cans all over
the fronts of the houses.
And not only do you have
the garbage cans out now
but people think they can
put chairs and other garbage
out around the garbage
cans.”
Fleischer said he’d like to
see a warning message added
to the next Village newsletter
informing residents
that doing so is against
Village code, and that they
will begin to be cited if they
don’t comply.
“People should not have
to look at somebody else’s
garbage when looking out
the front of their house,”
Fleischer said. “I want us to
start moving on this — [it’s]
ridiculous. It looks like a
pig pen out there in front of
some of these houses.”
Fleischer concluded by
saying “enough is enough.”
sensory
From Page 3
take a deep breath and just let
their kid maybe enjoy something
for a half hour that isn’t
being structured in a school,
that they don’t just have to sit
at a desk,” Hoffman said.
“The other benefit is [the
children] can socialize with
other kids, Ruggio added.
“And, plus, then if we can
get a group that comes on a
regular basis, then the parents
can have kind of a support
group.”
“Love makes people happy”
Watching River, one might
not know that he’s been diagnosed
with autism; he likes
to play, he’s curious about
the things around him and
he’s communicative, just like
many other children his age.
But, River struggles socializing
with other people. He has
difficulty carrying on a conversation,
and he’s unsure
how to react and respond to
other people.
“In some ways, he’s almost
wise beyond his years; but,
in other ways, he has trouble
communicating, too,” said
River’s mother Kathleen Ruzanski.
“...The world doesn’t
seem like it’s always set up
for people who have trouble
socially, who don’t know
how to read the social cues
all the time.”
Ruzanski said she does
what she can to help make
things easier for River, such
as working with him on his
motor skills at home, but she
said she knows that there will
be times when River will find
it difficult because of his autism
to be accepted by others.
“Sometimes the world is
not a nice place,” she said.
And, sadly, that’s the reality
for many on the spectrum.
But as more research is done
on the disorder, and as more
people in educate themselves
and help search for ways to
help strengthen the deficiencies
of those affected by the
disorder — as they’re doing
at the Mokena library — the
hope is that world can become
a little less harsh.
“We need to make sure
that these children with autism
and other issues, like
sensory issues, are being
understood,” Ruzanski said.
“Not giving them special
treatment, but understand.
Empathy. We need more empathy.
No matter what is going
on, we need to try to put
ourselves in other people’s
mindsets and understand this
is why they’re reacting this
way. It’s not because someone’s
trying to be a jerk, or
not because someone doesn’t
want to follow the rules all
the time. It’s coping. Sometimes
they need time to cope.
I don’t know. I just, I hope
things are OK for him.”
For more information on
the Mokena library’s programs,
visit mokenalibrary.
org.
Broker - Management Team
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