Ordinance was not enforced during first several years
By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Village of Darien board voted to repeal its ordinance requiring an annual business license on Monday night. The ordinance had been in place since 2011 but had rarely been enforced.
Administrator Rebecca LeMire said the ordinance required all businesses within the village limits to obtain an annual business license at a cost of $10.
LeMire presented a chart showing that since the ordinance was adopted, the village had 10 businesses apply for the license in 2012, nine in 2013, two in 2014, and one in 2016. No businesses applied in 2015 or since 2016.
According to LeMire, there are enough businesses in the village to indicate the ordinance was never enforced. There have been as many as 66 businesses in the village, according to data LeMire shared. Trustee Sheila Stirmel asked why that was.
LeMire said she started working in the village in 2015, so she cannot speak to the years before that. She said when she began as administrator, the ordinance did not have a history of being enforced, there did not appear to be many records and no one made it a priority to begin enforcing it.
Read more meeting coverage in the March 21 Enterprise.
