An ordinance the Oak Park Village Board passed last month that outlawed overnight operations at village gas stations as a way of limiting violent crime activity could be expanded in the coming weeks to include other overnight businesses.
That was the upshot of a public hearing on whether to make changes to the law that the Village Board held at its Oct. 25 meeting.
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Trustees approved the ordinance Sept. 19 and the village is now being sued over it.
The law bars gas stations on the village’s four perimeter streets — Roosevelt Road, Harlem Avenue, North Avenue and Austin Boulevard — from operating between midnight and 5 a.m., while gas stations located on interior streets must cease operations at 11 a.m.
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The ordinance was enacted in response to the fatal shooting of Oak Park and River Forest High School graduate Jailyn Logan-Bledsoe, 18, in the early morning hours of June 22 during a robbery and carjacking outside the BP gas station at 100 Chicago Avenue — and other violent incidents.
That murder, along with 12 other violent crimes that had taken place at all-night gas stations in the village between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. from the start of 2019 until September, according to village police data, spurred village officials to come up with restrictions on operating hours.
In response, the owners of seven gas stations, including six of the village’s eight all-night ones, sued Oak Park in Cook County Circuit Court on Sept. 27, arguing that the new law is excessive and would cost the owners anywhere between 12% and 35% of their sales.
A judge stayed enactment of the ordinance pending the outcome of the lawsuit. So for now, gas stations may still operate in Oak Park during overnight hours.
Now, trustees are considering expanding the ordinance to include convenience stores. Village attorney Paul Stephanides kicked off the Tuesday night public hearing by telling the audience that the hearing was not legally required, but it was a way for trustees to hear feedback from both residents and business owners.
Stephanides also noted that given that the ordinance is being challenged in court by the service stations, “and one of their claims is that the ordinance treats entities differently. One of the changes the village is contemplating is adding other entities to the restrictions of the ordinance, among other alternatives that might be contemplated by the board.”
At the public hearing, residents — particularly those living in the 500 and 600 blocks of North Taylor Avenue, near the BP gas station where the fatal shooting of Logan-Bledsoe took place — spoke, as did John Ellis, the attorney for seven gas station owners. In addition, several gas station owners, themselves, spoke, as did the owners of several convenience stores.
“My clients want just as much as anyone else for their gas stations to be safe,” Ellis told the board. “These are their livelihoods. This ordinance very likely will put these gas stations out of business.”
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Ellis stressed that many of the gas stations have contracts with fuel suppliers that require them to be open all night. In addition, he noted that being closed overnight places Oak Park gas stations “at a competitive disadvantage” to service stations in bordering and nearby towns, as no neighboring communities have enacted such restrictions.
Ellis also noted that the gas station owners have now hired private security guards to increase safety at the service stations.
“I wish there was more done earlier to prevent us from getting to this point,” Trustee Ravi Parakkat said in response to Ellis’ comment about the hired security.
“In terms of making this decision, we did not look at any fact other than specifically focusing on keeping the community safe, and that is a priority,” he said. “I do empathize with the businesses and the loss of revenue is a factor and it’s (a) l livelihood, and I get all that.”
By including other kinds of businesses in the village ordinance, Oak Park officials can make the case that they are not singling out gas stations only with the overnight restrictions, according to officials. The village’s other overnight businesses include a Dunkin’ Donuts shop and two 7-Eleven convenience stores.
At the public hearing, the owners of the two 7-Eleven stores told trustees that they actually favor being required to close during overnight hours. They stated that their contracts with 7-Eleven require them to keep their stores open all night unless there is a local law barring all convenience stores from being open during those hours.
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Ashish Patel, the owner of the 7-Eleven store at 240 Chicago Avenue, told the board that “there is so much crime” during overnight hours at his store.
“It’s constant (crime). It’s sad that it took the death of someone to come to this, right? It’s just, I can’t even keep an employee working there,” Patel said. “It’s just constant turnover. Between 12 [a.m. to 5 [a.m.], that period, I’m telling you, there is no business. We don’t do much business at night. Obviously we’re obligated with 7-Eleven to stay open. I am so glad that there is this ordinance, and we want to be part of it.”
At the end of the public hearing, trustees directed village staff to prepare an amendment to the existing ordinance that would expand its scope to include, at a minimum, all-night convenience stores. The Village Board is expected to take up the measure at its Nov. 7 meeting.
“I’m in favor of bringing forward the ordinance again including the 7-Elevens,” Trustee Susan Buchanan said.
And Trustee Jim Taglia noted that “they agree,” referring to the 7-Eleven store owners.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
