Forest Park has banned pop up events while the village figures out how to better regulate them.
Steve Glinke, the village’s director of planning and zoning, announced the policy change on July 26. Forest Park’s municipal code is currently silent on pop ups, which means that, while they are not explicitly prohibited, they are not explicitly allowed, either. While in the past, Forest Park worked with businesses interested in holding pop-ups on a case-by-case basis, the village’s new approach is that, until the municipal code is revised to clearly regulate pop ups, they won’t be allowed at all.
While Glinke didn’t elaborate on why the policy has changed, the announcement came a day after a fight occurred near the Lantern Haus bar as a pop-up party was ending.
Glinke indicated that, as of July 30, the village was in the process of creating an ordinance regulating pop-ups, but he didn’t have a timeline for when it might go before the village council.
Over the years, a number of Forest Park businesses hosted a number of events. Most recently, the Wright House gallery hosted an art pop-up shop on July 24 and 25. Urban Pioneer Group event venue, 7503 Madison St., has hosted a number of pop-up shops for local artisans.
In a statement sent through the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Development newsletter, Glinke wrote that pop ups are “neither defined nor permitted under the code.”
“We’ve attempted to work with individual business owners in the past to facilitate such activities, but it appears the village is at a point where we either need to change local code to better define the scope of Pop Ups or develop a guidance piece clarifying what is and is not permitted,” he wrote. “For the time being, businesses shall be limited only to the approved use under their Forest Park business license.”
When reached by-email, Glinke didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind the change in policy, saying only that the village staff was in the process of developing pop-up regulations.
“Village employees will be researching this at the staff level before recommendations are made to the policymakers.” he said.
Laurie Kokenes, Forest Park Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, said that the chamber board hasn’t discussed the issue of pop-ups as of July 29, so it hasn’t currently taken any position on the matter.
