EMBATTLED SMOKE SHOP MOVING TO SOUTH ELGIN

ELGIN -- Notorious for its light-up mushroom and questionable glass
pipes, Ozzie's Smoke Shop is packing up and moving down the road, to
the delight of a local neighborhood group.

Todd LaMere, 46, who owns the shop at 11 National St. said his new
South Elgin location -- in a small shopping center off Illinois 31
just south of Sundown Road that houses, among other businesses, a
tattoo parlor and a bar -- is more accommodating.

"We're moving because it's a better location and there's more
parking," LaMere said Thursday.

However, some neighbors claim that he's moving next week because he's
sick of being interrogated and watched by the city and its residents.

Police acting on a search warrant raided the store in April and
charged LaMere with keeping marijuana and pipes already used to smoke
the drug inside the shop. LaMere has pleaded not guilty to the
misdemeanor charges. He is scheduled to appear in court again in early
August.

"He's moving on his own because he doesn't want to deal with us," said
Charlene Sligting, president of the South West Area Neighbors group.

SWAN has been trying to get the city to close down Ozzie's since
before LaMere's arrest.

LaMere "claimed we (city officials and SWAN) were picking on him and
singling him out" from another nearby smoke shop, Papa Smoke at 269 S.
State St., said Sligting.

"But we asked him to take the mushroom out of his window, and he
wouldn't do it," said Sligting. "We asked him to put up a sign in his
window that said, 'Over 18 and a valid I.D.' so kids wouldn't come in
there, and he wouldn't do it."

"It didn't make sense," Sligting continued, noting that Papa Smoke
cooperated when asked by SWAN to take similar actions.

Ozzie's "is at the corridor going into downtown. I mean, what kind of
impression does that give?" Sligting said.

The city council took action late last month to change that image. On
June 25 it voted to prohibit the possession, sale and advertising of
drug paraphernalia.

The move was in response to repeated complaints from SWAN about
neighborhood stores -- Ozzie's and Papa Smoke -- which they contended
sold items used by some to use illegal drugs.

Both shops were allowed to operate under what City Manager Olufemi
Folarin called the "gray area" of state law, selling items that
arguably could be used for legal and illegal use.

Folarin said recent changes in the Illinois Drug Paraphernalia Control
Act allow for local law enforcement to impose fines on a business by
declaring it a public nuisance. Fines start at $1,000.

Mayor Ed Schock also said both shops could expect more undercover
sting operations to take place to make sure they comply with the law.

Even though Ozzie's has removed the mushroom sign from its window,
Sligting said the move will be good for the area.

"I'm glad he's going," said Sligting. "We're just cleaning up our
neighborhood."

South Elgin Village President Jim Hansen said the village can't do
much about the move by Ozzie's.

"We can't say no to a business and we can't tell a business to leave,"
said Hansen. "It's still America; they still have the right to free
commerce."

"All we can do is make sure they abide by our laws and our rules just
like any other business," Hansen continued, pointing out that the
village doesn't have a local ordinance, like the one in Elgin,
addressing drug paraphernalia.