Well, so much for the ability of the zoning board to take some of the heat off the village council on the Team Blonde futz-up. With three members absent, Monday night’s second chapter of the Blonde epic sputtered to an anti-climatic finish. Two to two. Two votes in favor of a cleverly worded zoning amendment that matched up to absolving Team Blonde of its sins right down to the precise square footage of the storefront. And two votes against.
So, village council, it is up to you to decide the future of this business and to make a statement on the conflict between Forest Park’s propensity to ignore its own laws and the absolute logic of not smushing a vital business in the midst of an economic downturn.
As we’ve said before, we’re in favor of Team Blonde getting their precise zoning relief. This is too good a business to toss overboard on a technicality. At the same time, this council is getting the heat it deserves for the perception its members have created that anything goes in Forest Park, that connected folks can do what they will and without consequence.
That the village is actually trying to resolve this skirmish by taking a legal measure and amending the zoning is a small step toward accountability. But the road back is going to take some time, some discipline and some acknowledgement that loosey-goosey is not a preferred governmental philosophy.
