Lyons shuns growth // Historic village has very little room for expansion

The small village of Lyons, founded more than 300 years ago,basically is a quiet residential community with a populationdominated by older working people.

Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet arrived in the area -then a swamp, now a national historic site - in 1673 while portagingtheir canoe toward Lake Michigan.

Today Lyons, located 12 miles southwest of the Loop, has littleroom for expanison.

"In recent years, there have been some small, single-lotprojects and a few multifamily developments," said George Kucharchuk,a village inspector. "But we're not really a high-growth community."

Lyons is experiencing slow but stable commercial growth. …