OAK PARK, ILL. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- With Halloween only weeks away, the village of Oak Park thought its long-standing curfew that limited trick-or-treating to the hours of 3 to 7 p.m. on Halloween was in the bag.
But many parents objected to the 7 p.m. cutoff, complaining that it was unfair to many working parents.
"I think 7 o'clock is too early to stop trick-or-treating. I think that it actually targets the people that are working, people that get off of work and can only get out say at 6:15, 7 o'clock after dinner and can only get an hour in or something like that," Oak Park parent Will Sims said.
Village trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla agreed.
"This actually impacts kids of parents who are working families, single-parent families who cannot get back in time because I know when I was a single-mother, I got home at 6:30 p.m. and we started trick-or-treating at 7 p.m.," she said.
Others said it’s overreach for the village board to regulate Halloween.
So trustees voted to shift trick-or-treating hours to between 4 and 8 p.m. They also decided to suggest the change in a resolution rather than requiring it through an ordinance.