Highland Park Reconsiders Ban On Recreational Cannabis Stores

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Six months after the legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois, the Highland Park City Council is set to reconsider its prohibition of adult-use cannabis dispensaries. At a special committee meeting Monday, councilmembers are due to discuss whether to begin a public hearing process to develop a zoning code amendment that would allow for new marijuana businesses in town.

At a committee of the whole meeting on Aug. 12, 2019, the City Council held an informal poll of its members to gauge interests in advancing the public hearing process. They voted 4-3 against, with Mayor Nancy Rotering and Councilmembers Adam Stolberg, Dan Kaufman and Tony Blumberg opposing. A public hearing process was supported by Councilmembers Michelle Holleman, Alyssa Knobel and Kim Stone.

The majority said they wanted to wait and see how the cannabis industry was received in other North Shore communities before making a decision. And in November 2019, the council amended its zoning code to formally clarify the ban on all recreational marijuana businesses.

City staff surveyed other north suburban communities that opted in to recreational cannabis, Senior Planner Andy Cross said in a memo to the City Council. Not all of them responded, he said, and those that did said it was "too early to draw any conclusions, though none identified significant problems."

If the City Council decides to allow it, Cross said staff recommended the city implement stricter zoning regulations for adult-use cannabis businesses as it did for medical cannabis five years ago.

Instead of allowing cannabis dispensaries in highway commercial, health care and light industrial zoning districts, "staff recommends the Council consider limiting adult use cannabis land uses locations within the I Zoning District east of the railroad right of way" to offer a larger buffer from single-family homes.

Related:
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Highland Park currently has a single medical marijuana dispensary, Elevele, which operates at 1460 Old Skokie Road.

Last summer, company representatives told city staff they planned to apply for a permit to move down the road to 260 Skokie Valley Road, the current location of Highland Park Tire & Auto Service, according to Cross. That area is currently zoned B3 and is the subject of a corridor planning initiative that could wind up allowing mixed-use residential developments beside Route 41 and Skokie Valley Road.

Elevele's Lake Forest-based owners last year agreed to sell the company for $14 million to Arizona-based Harvest Enterprises. After the passage of the bill legalizing cannabis in Illinois, Elevele sued Harvest in July 2019 to get out of the deal. The suit was withdrawn in November 2019. No information was immediately available from either company about the status of the transaction.

Under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act — the law that legalized the possession, use and sale of cannabis to those 21 and over starting Jan. 1 — allows suburban home rule to forbid the commercial sale of cannabis through zoning regulations.

However, it does not allow local governments to ban the possession of under an ounce of marijuana products by residents or its use on most private property with the permission of the property owner.