Bill Text: IL HB2544 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Liquor Control Act of 1934. Provides that nothing in Section 6-11 prohibits the renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor at a premises that is located within a municipality with a population more than 5,000 and less than 10,000 and is within 100 feet of a church if: (1) the church was established at the location within 100 feet of the premises after a license for the sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises was first issued; (2) a license for sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises was first issued before January 1, 2007; and (3) a license for the sale of alcoholic liquor on the premises has been continuously in effect since January 1, 2007, except for interruptions between licenses of no more than 90 days. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2009-08-11 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0283 [HB2544 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB2544-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning liquor.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Liquor Control Act of 1934 is amended by
changing Section 6-11 as follows:
(235 ILCS 5/6-11) (from Ch. 43, par. 127)
Sec. 6-11. Sale near churches, schools, and hospitals.
(a) No license shall be issued for the sale at retail of
any alcoholic liquor within 100 feet of any church, school
other than an institution of higher learning, hospital, home
for aged or indigent persons or for veterans, their spouses or
children or any military or naval station, provided, that this
prohibition shall not apply to hotels offering restaurant
service, regularly organized clubs, or to restaurants, food
shops or other places where sale of alcoholic liquors is not
the principal business carried on if the place of business so
exempted is not located in a municipality of more than 500,000
persons, unless required by local ordinance; nor to the renewal
of a license for the sale at retail of alcoholic liquor on
premises within 100 feet of any church or school where the
church or school has been established within such 100 feet
since the issuance of the original license. In the case of a
church, the distance of 100 feet shall be measured to the

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nearest part of any building used for worship services or
educational programs and not to property boundaries.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance of
a retail license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor to a
restaurant, the primary business of which is the sale of goods
baked on the premises if (i) the restaurant is newly
constructed and located on a lot of not less than 10,000 square
feet, (ii) the restaurant costs at least $1,000,000 to
construct, (iii) the licensee is the titleholder to the
premises and resides on the premises, and (iv) the construction
of the restaurant is completed within 18 months of the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1998.
(c) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance of
a retail license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor
incidental to a restaurant if (1) the primary business of the
restaurant consists of the sale of food where the sale of
liquor is incidental to the sale of food and the applicant is a
completely new owner of the restaurant, (2) the immediately
prior owner or operator of the premises where the restaurant is
located operated the premises as a restaurant and held a valid
retail license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor at the
restaurant for at least part of the 24 months before the change
of ownership, and (3) the restaurant is located 75 or more feet
from a school.
(d) In the interest of further developing Illinois' economy
in the area of commerce, tourism, convention, and banquet

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business, nothing in this Section shall prohibit issuance of a
retail license authorizing the sale of alcoholic beverages to a
restaurant, banquet facility, grocery store, or hotel having
not fewer than 150 guest room accommodations located in a
municipality of more than 500,000 persons, notwithstanding the
proximity of such hotel, restaurant, banquet facility, or
grocery store to any church or school, if the licensed premises
described on the license are located within an enclosed mall or
building of a height of at least 6 stories, or 60 feet in the
case of a building that has been registered as a national
landmark, or in a grocery store having a minimum of 56,010
square feet of floor space in a single story building in an
open mall of at least 3.96 acres that is adjacent to a public
school that opened as a boys technical high school in 1934, or
in a grocery store having a minimum of 31,000 square feet of
floor space in a single story building located a distance of
more than 90 feet but less than 100 feet from a high school
that opened in 1928 as a junior high school and became a senior
high school in 1933, and in each of these cases if the sale of
alcoholic liquors is not the principal business carried on by
the licensee.
For purposes of this Section, a "banquet facility" is any
part of a building that caters to private parties and where the
sale of alcoholic liquors is not the principal business.
(e) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance of
a license to a church or private school to sell at retail

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alcoholic liquor if any such sales are limited to periods when
groups are assembled on the premises solely for the promotion
of some common object other than the sale or consumption of
alcoholic liquors.
(f) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a church or
church affiliated school located in a home rule municipality or
in a municipality with 75,000 or more inhabitants from locating
within 100 feet of a property for which there is a preexisting
license to sell alcoholic liquor at retail. In these instances,
the local zoning authority may, by ordinance adopted
simultaneously with the granting of an initial special use
zoning permit for the church or church affiliated school,
provide that the 100-foot restriction in this Section shall not
apply to that church or church affiliated school and future
retail liquor licenses.
(g) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance of
a retail license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor at
premises within 100 feet, but not less than 90 feet, of a
public school if (1) the premises have been continuously
licensed to sell alcoholic liquor for a period of at least 50
years, (2) the premises are located in a municipality having a
population of over 500,000 inhabitants, (3) the licensee is an
individual who is a member of a family that has held the
previous 3 licenses for that location for more than 25 years,
(4) the principal of the school and the alderman of the ward in
which the school is located have delivered a written statement

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to the local liquor control commissioner stating that they do
not object to the issuance of a license under this subsection
(g), and (5) the local liquor control commissioner has received
the written consent of a majority of the registered voters who
live within 200 feet of the premises.
(h) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
or renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic
liquor within premises and at an outdoor patio area attached to
premises that are located in a municipality with a population
in excess of 300,000 inhabitants and that are within 100 feet
of a church if:
(1) the sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises is
incidental to the sale of food,
(2) the sale of liquor is not the principal business
carried on by the licensee at the premises,
(3) the premises are less than 1,000 square feet,
(4) the premises are owned by the University of
Illinois,
(5) the premises are immediately adjacent to property
owned by a church and are not less than 20 nor more than 40
feet from the church space used for worship services, and
(6) the principal religious leader at the place of
worship has indicated his or her support for the issuance
of the license in writing.
(i) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the

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contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
or renewal of a license to sell alcoholic liquor at a premises
that is located within a municipality with a population in
excess of 300,000 inhabitants and is within 100 feet of a
church, synagogue, or other place of worship if:
(1) the primary entrance of the premises and the
primary entrance of the church, synagogue, or other place
of worship are at least 100 feet apart, on parallel
streets, and separated by an alley; and
(2) the principal religious leader at the place of
worship has not indicated his or her opposition to the
issuance or renewal of the license in writing.
(j) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
of a retail license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor at
a theater that is within 100 feet of a church if (1) the church
owns the theater, (2) the church leases the theater to one or
more entities, and (3) the theater is used by at least 5
different not-for-profit theater groups.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
or renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic
liquor at a premises that is located within a municipality with
a population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants and is within
100 feet of a school if:
(1) the primary entrance of the premises and the

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primary entrance of the school are parallel, on different
streets, and separated by an alley;
(2) the southeast corner of the premises are at least
350 feet from the southwest corner of the school;
(3) the school was built in 1978;
(4) the sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises is
incidental to the sale of food;
(5) the sale of alcoholic liquor is not the principal
business carried on by the licensee at the premises;
(6) the applicant is the owner of the restaurant and
has held a valid license authorizing the sale of alcoholic
liquor for the business to be conducted on the premises at
a different location for more than 7 years; and
(7) the premises is at least 2,300 square feet and sits
on a lot that is between 6,100 and 6,150 square feet.
(l) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
or renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic
liquor at a premises that is located within a municipality with
a population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants and is within
100 feet of a church or school if:
(1) the primary entrance of the premises and the
closest entrance of the church or school is at least 90
feet apart and no greater than 95 feet apart;
(2) the shortest distance between the premises and the
church or school is at least 80 feet apart and no greater

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than 85 feet apart;
(3) the applicant is the owner of the restaurant and on
November 15, 2006 held a valid license authorizing the sale
of alcoholic liquor for the business to be conducted on the
premises for at least 14 different locations;
(4) the sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises is
incidental to the sale of food;
(5) the sale of alcoholic liquor is not the principal
business carried on by the licensee at the premises;
(6) the premises is at least 3,200 square feet and sits
on a lot that is between 7,150 and 7,200 square feet; and
(7) the principal religious leader at the place of
worship has not indicated his or her opposition to the
issuance or renewal of the license in writing.
(m) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
or renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic
liquor at a premises that is located within a municipality with
a population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants and is within
100 feet of a church if:
(1) the premises and the church are perpendicular, and
the primary entrance of the premises faces South while the
primary entrance of the church faces West and the distance
between the two entrances is more than 100 feet;
(2) the shortest distance between the premises lot line
and the exterior wall of the church is at least 80 feet;

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(3) the church was established at the current location
in 1916 and the present structure was erected in 1925;
(4) the premises is a single story, single use building
with at least 1,750 square feet and no more than 2,000
square feet;
(5) the sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises is
incidental to the sale of food;
(6) the sale of alcoholic liquor is not the principal
business carried on by the licensee at the premises; and
(7) the principal religious leader at the place of
worship has not indicated his or her opposition to the
issuance or renewal of the license in writing.
(n) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance
or renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic
liquor at a premises that is located within a municipality with
a population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants and is within
100 feet of a school if:
(1) the school is a City of Chicago School District 299
school;
(2) the school is located within subarea E of City of
Chicago Residential Business Planned Development Number
70;
(3) the sale of alcoholic liquor is not the principal
business carried on by the licensee on the premises;
(4) the sale of alcoholic liquor at the premises is

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incidental to the sale of food; and
(5) the administration of City of Chicago School
District 299 has expressed, in writing, its support for the
issuance of the license.
(o) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the
contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit renewal of a
license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor at a premises
that is located within a municipality with a population more
than 5,000 and less than 10,000 and is within 100 feet of a
church if:
(1) the church was established at the location within
100 feet of the premises after a license for the sale of
alcoholic liquor at the premises was first issued;
(2) a license for sale of alcoholic liquor at the
premises was first issued before January 1, 2007; and
(3) a license for the sale of alcoholic liquor on the
premises has been continuously in effect since January 1,
2007, except for interruptions between licenses of no more
than 90 days.
(Source: P.A. 94-1103, eff. 2-9-07; 95-331, eff. 8-21-07;
95-752, eff. 1-1-09.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.