The owners of a chain of adult gift stores are suing Libertyville because village officials have refused to grant them permission to open a store across the street from Winchester House, Lake County’s public nursing home.
The village has denied a zoning certificate of compliance to the owners of Lover’s Lane and Co.-Illinois, which operates seven stores in metropolitan Chicago that sell intimate apparel and novelties, said an attorney who has represented the company in its dealings with the village.
Lover’s Lane, based in Detroit, wants to open a store in Win-Mil Plaza at Winchester Road and Milwaukee Avenue.
John Spoden, Libertyville’s director of community development, said that because Lover’s Lane sells lingerie and adult-oriented novelties, it does not meet zoning requirements for the area.
“Basically, the zoning certificate was denied because the zoning code doesn’t even contemplate this type of use in that area, so it’s not even listed as a special use,” Spoden said.
Steve Kroll, the attorney who represented Lover’s Lane during its failed negotiations with the village, said Lover’s Lane had no choice but to file suit, because the village’s process to change the zoning code “is fraught with political problems and procedural difficulties.”
