Agenda Item:
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Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Various Provisions of the Glencoe Village Code Regarding Business Registration, Licensing, and Permits
Staff Contact: Adam Hall, Assistant Village Manager
Purpose and Actions Requested: Staff requests that the Village Board consider an Ordinance amending various provisions of the Glencoe Village Code regarding business registration, licensing and permits.
Budget Impact: Not Applicable
Budget Fund: N/A
Strategic Priority Addressed: Economic Vitality
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
At its August 19, 2026 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Village Board discussed proposed amendments to Chapter 22 (Licenses and Permits) as part of staff's ongoing, phased comprehensive update of the Municipal Code. In this case, adjustments to the Municipal Code are recommended to accommodate the Village's business licensing renewal process for the upcoming fiscal year, which commences later this fall.
Changes to Chapter 22 include a complete update to Village Code, now titled “Business Registration and Licenses.” These code changes shift certain business categories from licensing to a simplified registration process. The simplified registration process reflects changing licensing procedures for certain professions or trades which have over time moved to the state level and are either preempted by state regulations or no longer need substantive local oversight.
Business uses with a greater operational impact, such as restaurants, will remain subject to licensing due to the need for health and life safety inspections, as well as the possibility for liquor service and hours of operation. Lower-impact businesses, such as general retail and service-based stores, will move to a general registration requirement. These businesses typically keep standard retail hours, do not serve food or alcohol on-site and carry lower occupancy loads. For those businesses, ongoing licensing is not necessary to protect public health, safety or welfare. Licensing for time-limited activities, such as an auctioneer at a charity event, will now to be addressed through the Village's special event process rather than as a licensed business.
The Chapter 22 amendments also consolidate several freestanding chapters that regulate specific business types and activities. Chapters governing filling stations and public garages, scavengers, tobacco dealers and solicitation, along with the articles of the Amusements chapter covering commercial filming and special events, are being moved into the new Chapter 22 without substantive change. Other provisions, including those covering billiards and pool halls, bowling alleys, motion picture theaters, barbershops, auctioneers and secondhand stores, are being deleted outright with business registration for these uses instead handled through the general registry of Chapter 22. Permits currently governing meetings on public property, private auctions and itinerant merchants will no longer have dedicated Code provisions but rather be issued as Special Event Permits or for door-to-door sales, through the Village's solicitation permit process. Attachment A summarizes these changes by chapter for reference.
The Village's Zoning Code provisions governing permitted land uses are unaffected by this change and will continue to determine which business types may operate in the Village, including whether a given use is permitted by right, requires special approval or is prohibited in a particular zoning district. Shifting a business category from licensing to registration does not reduce the Village's regulatory authority over that use.
Health, building and life-safety inspection requirements found elsewhere in the Code remain in effect regardless of a business's licensing or registration status and the Village retains full authority to enforce those requirements against any business that fails to comply. Registration also preserves the Village's ability to track which businesses are operating in the community, supporting code enforcement and emergency response functions that depend on knowing who is doing business where.
The proposed amendments are intended to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden on the business community while retaining the Village's authority over higher-risk business categories.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff requests that the Village Board consider an Ordinance amending various provisions of the Glencoe Village Code regarding business registration, licensing and permits.
MOTION
Move to approve an Ordinance amending various provisions of the Glencoe Village Code regarding business registration, licensing and permits.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Ordinance
2. Attachment A - Table Summary of Proposed Changes