Palos Hills City Council Says Business in Town is Growing, Fees Are Fair

Business in Palos Hills: The issue of whether or not Palos Hills is a business friendly community again took center stage at the Palos Hills Thursday night.

Former Kozy Koffee owner Joe Cantele attended the committee-of-the-whole meeting to outline what he sees as the difficulty of doing business in today's economy.

Alderman William Hanson (3rd Ward) was not particularly eager to hear Cantele's presentation, angry after Cantele berated the council a few and then left before the aldermen could respond.

“It's okay for him to walk out before we can say anything, but we have to listen to him,” Hanson said, as Cantele went to fetch a poster board and pointer.

“Welcome to the United States of America,” Cantele said, in response to Hanson's comment.

The presentation centered on the idea that his proposed business could have provided gross profit of $31,200, but would have realized a net loss after property taxes, garbage, insurance and other expenditures.

He said the city needed do more to help local business and less to stifle them, such as required fees.

“Can you soften up on the new businesses coming into town, and stop the 'I'm the alderman and you're not,'” he said. “Find out what you can do for them and get these storefronts filled up – we are sitting on a gold mine here in Palos.”

Mayor Gerald Bennett commented Cantele's statements as soon as he was finished and ardently disagreed with the idea Palos Hills was not business friendly.

“No one is going to throw us under the bus and say we aren't business friendly – businesses are coming in, slowly, based on the economy – and we are going to try and help them as much as we can,” he said. “This city is business friendly, we are in one of the worst recessions since the depression – stores are vacant in every town.”

The mayor also said that all towns have rules, laws and regulations regarding what type of businesses and zoning are allowed, and compared to other towns along Harlem Avenue Palos Hills was more lenient.

In direct response to Cantele's former complaints about the fee for a special use permit, Bennett said that two businesses applied for the permit in the last two weeks. One business was requesting a special use as a massage parlor, Bennett highlighted.

"This type of business is a prime example of why we changed codes a few years ago,” He said. “Ten years ago we had three unlicensed, illegal massage parlors in town and so we changed the law so they had to be a therapist and prove licensing to the city council.”

Before the meeting, most of the aldermen met to discuss to the special use permit ordinance under planning and zoning. Mark Brachman (1st ward) and A.J. Pasek (3rd ward) suggested the meeting after Cantele spoke two weeks ago.

After the council meeting Brachman said he had a better understanding of the $1,000 fee and was convinced it was the true cost of holding meeting.

“I was happy with the meeting and I understand the reasons and costs now,” he said. “My only concern in the future is that I want to make sure that if the Plan Commission approves something and we deny it, the petitioner gets a chance to address us and our concerns.”

Busted: Bennett, who also serves the city's liquor commissioner, told the City Council he will be conducting a hearing on Aug. 2 in regards to Pantry Plus. The convenient store, located at 103rd and Roberts Road, allegedly sold alcohol to underage customers on both June 22 and

“If you know my history, you know I grow impatient when someone continually violates our laws. It's a simple process – you card everyone,” Bennett said.

Pantry Plus is one of the establishments through an H-1 liquor license to sell packaged alcohol until 2 a.m.