Ordinance that restricts dollar stores approved by Chicago City Council

CHICAGO - The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of an ordinance that focuses on poorly-maintained dollar stores. 

The ordinance passed with a vote of 42-7, banning new dollar stores from opening within a mile of another one if both are owned by the same company. 

Chicago has 149 dollar stores, mostly in low-income communities. 

In the past six years, the company that owns Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar has been hit with more than 3,000 code violations, racking up more than $600,000 in fines. 

The ordinance was introduced by Alderman Matt O'Shea. 

He said the "irresponsible owners" of dollar stores in his ward are creating problems due to their inability to maintain cleanliness. Other aldermen were in agreement. 

Alderman Derrick Curtis said he loves Dollar Tree stores, but the three that opened in his ward are not kept to the same standard as the ones in the suburbs. 

The Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement, calling the move "misguided."