Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld | Provided photo
Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld | Provided photo
The Homewood village board recently approved an exemption for a new local business facing issues with parking requirements.
The decision was made at a June 14 board meeting.
Zoning requires two parking spots per customer chair plus one spot per employee for parking for the barbershop business, along with a space for the office in front—making a total of seven spaces. Only a small portion of the attached parking lot is dedicated to the building, which leaves the business short of the required spaces.
The village allows special exemptions for private businesses in downtown areas near village-owed public parking. The barbershop is near multiple public parking spaces as well as street parking. Because these parking spaces are not heavily trafficked and the proposed business is unique and new to the village, the board unanimously passed the motion to allow the exemption.
Mikeena Shanklin and her husband Halsted put in an application for a new business in Homewood. They purchased a one-story unit in a three-unit commercial building and plan to split it in order to put in two private suites that would hold one barber and one customer per suite.
"So I'm excited to start something, a business here in my hometown," Shanklin said at the meeting.
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