Naperville has lifted its ban on discounted drinks during happy hour.
The city council voted Tuesday to make the change after hearing supportive comments from the public and industry groups.
Neil Malone, a lobbyist for the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, says their members expect this will mean more business - and more hours for staff.
While the state lifted its ban on happy hour drinks in 2015, Mayor Scott Wehrli explained the Naperville Liquor Commission chose not to follow in 2017 while the city was “dealing with a lot of late night liquor-related violence in downtown”.
He and other speakers pointed to lifestyle changes, the option of rideshares and tougher DUI laws as reasons that happy hours in other communities have not brought a spike in problems.
Restaurants that are part of larger groups want the move, said Monica Conners, president of the Naperville Development Partnership.
She told the council many restaurant chains will no longer have to make special menus or other marketing changes for their Naperville locations.
There will be limits - including that establishments cannot cut prices by more than half, can’t give customers more than one drink at a time and happy hours will end by 7 p.m.
The change is effective immediately.
