Marijuana At Edens Plaza Returns To Wilmette Committee

WILMETTE, IL — Could a pot shop be next tenant in the long-vacant former Carson Pirie Scott at Edens Plaza?

The Wilmette Village Board Land Use Committee is set to determine next week whether the shopping center is an appropriate location for a cannabis dispensary, if trustees were eventually to follow a non-binding referendum approved by voters and permit recreational marijuana to be sold within village limits.

At Tuesday's meeting, village officials are hoping to gather feedback about Edens Plaza from residents and other interested parties, including the property owner, its commercial broker, other tenants and Loyola Academy, which is located about a 900-foot walk away, across the Edens Expressway.

The follow-up committee meeting comes more than seven months after Wilmette voters endorsed allowing cannabis retailers in the village via the non-binding referendum and more than four months after village staff and the committee narrowed potential locations to the single site.

In the coming days, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign a bill aimed at clearing the way for more than 100 new licenses to open cannabis dispensaries in the Chicago area to be issued by the end of the year. That makes it an opportune time for municipalities to reconsider local bans, and several suburban communities are revisiting the issue.

Village Manager Mike Braiman said Edens Plaza met all the criteria that staff applied to judge in which of Wilmette's various commercial zoning districts a retail cannabis business might fit, including parking, traffic and nearby residential neighborhoods. It was also the most popular potential pot shop location among industry representatives, he said.

"We really looked at the referendum results too: 56 percent to 44 percent. That was pretty consistent across the community," Braiman said at the committee's Feb. 24 meeting. "We were working from the assumption that 44 percent of residents in these areas are not going to be inclined to want it there anyway, and then you put it in the backyard, that number probably increases. We're trying to limit residents being uncomfortable with the discussion if it's unlikely that a dispensary would even locate there anyway."

But the village manager emphasized the industry may not end up getting its wish.

"I think we want to make sure that we're zoning not based on industry-specific desires of where they want to be, but where are community wants them to be and needs them to be," Braiman said. "So if the industry says they want to be in Edens Plaza, that's the only place, but in our process and our discussions we're not comfortable with Edens Plaza, then we still say 'no' to Edens Plaza even if the industry wants to be there."

Related:
Edens Plaza's Former Owner Ordered To Pay Over $2 Million
Shopping Center Sold To Real Estate Investor For $71.9 Million
Pediatric Care Center At Edens Plaza Approved By Village Board
Former Edens Plaza Carson's Sold For $14 Million

According to a brochure from the shopping center's leasing agents, there is a 14,000-square-foot vacancy between the Kriser's and Birkenstock stores, in addition to the up to 150,000-square-foot redevelopment opportunity in the former Carson's. The Greenhouse dispensary that opened in August 2020 across the street from Old Orchard Mall is about 15,000 square feet, village officials said.

Trustee Peter Barrow, who chairs the committee, noted that no one in Wilmette will be "deprived of cannabis" with the Old Orchard road location within biking distance, no matter what the village board decides. He said he did not see any reason to consider other commercial districts, such as Plaza Del Lago, regardless of business interest.

"The Plaza has historically been considered one of the jewels of Wilmette," Barrow said.
"It's an extraordinary beautiful shopping center, and unless there were strong desire of the adjacent residents, including the folks across the street, I don't see any sense in, frankly, our committee going down that road."

There will be no decisions made at the upcoming meeting of the three-trustee committee, which is aimed at providing information and recommendations to the full village board. It is due to begin at 7 p.m. June 29.