Marijuana Sales Coming To Joliet In January

JOLIET, IL — If you live in Joliet, the following announcement may not be a big surprise: State regulators on Thursday approved recreational marijuana licenses to five suburban and downstate medical marijuana dispensaries, one being the 3C Compassionate Care Center in Joliet.

Joliet Patch has previously reported that 3C acquired a property near the Louis Joliet Mall as part of its expansion efforts in the Joliet area. 3C has been in Joliet nearly four full years. Last November, Joliet's City Council voted 8-0 to approve a special use permit for the conversion of an empty Mattress Firm store at 2903 Colorado Ave. into a medical marijuana dispensary for the 3C Compassionate Care Center.

City of Joliet economic development specialist Derek Conley told Patch on Thursday that he does not foresee any problems whatsoever involving 3C Compassionate Care in Joliet.

"They're a well-established business, and we haven't had any problems so far," Conley said.

Several years ago, 3C Compassionate Care Center got a dispensary license from Illinois and the business has been operating in Joliet at 1627 Rock Creek Boulevard in the Rock Run Business Park since December 2015.

Joliet's Corporation Counsel Marty Shanahan told Patch on Thursday the Joliet City Council in the coming weeks will need to determine how it wants to regulate the sales of recreational marijuana in the community.

Issues that need to be discussed, he said, surround zoning, land use, and whether the city will want to regulate the number of potential marijuana businesses just as the city does with liquor licenses.

At the moment, the council hasn't discussed whether to restrict the sales of recreational marijuana to certain areas of the community.

Without regulation, the city could have a situation where there are marijuana shops that pop anywhere and possibly next to schools and day-care centers.

For more information, read Thursday's article from The Chicago Sun-Times chronicling the state's approval of five recreational marijuana shops.