Recreational Marijuana In Lincolnwood To Be Reconsidered

LINCOLNWOOD, IL — Village trustees took an initial step this month toward joining neighboring communities in allowing retail cannabis sales. Lincolnwood's zoning code does not currently permit pot shops.

As of this spring, Illinois regulators have issued 110 licenses for pot shops. They include locations in Evanston, Niles, Skokie, a forthcoming location in Morton Grove and more than a dozen in Chicago.

With Gov. J.B. Pritzker's expected signing of House Bill 1443, state regulators could issue more than 100 new licenses in the Chicago by the end of the year.

"This is an opportune time, if the village wants to reconsider cannabis dispensaries within the village," Community Development Director Scott Mangum told trustees at a committee meeting this month.

Based on April sales figures from the state and the maximum local cannabis sales tax rate of 3 percent, Mangum said the average Illinois cannabis dispensary generates more than $12 million in gross annual revenue and provides the average local government in whose jurisdiction it is located with an extra tax revenue of about $380,000.

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Police Chief Jay Parrott said most of the information he had received indicated that cannabis dispensaries were no more dangerous for the community than other businesses.

"Most places have security personnel on site. It's a very secure, very clean, very professional atmosphere and there haven't been any issues," Parrot told trustees at the June 1 committee meeting.

"It's the law of the land here in Illinois. If somebody were to buy cannabis, I'd rather have them buy it from a licensed facility that is controlled," he added. "It's a controlled environment, and they're not basically buying it from an unlawful sale, where there's other risks of other crimes occurring because of that purchase."

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The Lincolnwood Plan Commission is due to take up the issue at its July 7 meeting, along with further discussion of allowing video gambling within the village.

But the commission process does not guarantee that village trustees will vote to permit retail cannabis sales, nor that Lincolnwood will wind up with a dispensary.

Trustee Jean Ikezoe-Halevi said the village could explore ways to benefit indirectly from the cannabis industry by allowing cannabis products to be produced but not sold within the village.

"I want what's best for the community and I understand, we can use the revenue just like all the other communities around us, but I do want us to be very careful in our choices in how we present this," she said. "Because I know there are a lot of different members of our community who are emphatically against having anything in here, and to try to respect everybody's wishes is going to be very difficult."