Oak Lawn Trustees Vote 'No' To Pot Shops

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn trustees voted 4 to 2 to prohibit cannabis businesses from operating in the village before adult-use, recreational marijuana becomes legal in Illinois on New Year's Day. The new law also gives municipalities' leeway to regulate pot shops in their respective communities, including setting special rules for hours, location and operations.

A public hearing held Dec. 3 on whether to allow cannabis businesses in Oak Lawn drew a sparse crowd and lasted all of 17 minutes, compared to the three-hour-long meeting in Lemont earlier this week, where village board members voted to put the question as an advisory referendum on the March 17, 2020 ballot.

Tr. Bud Stalker (Dist. 5) called the legalization of recreational marijuana “a tax grab made necessary by state that was run in a fiscally irresponsible manner,” but still voted against the village banning cannabis businesses.

“Like it or not, it’s the law in the Land of Lincoln,” Stalker said. “The law will lead to greater law enforcement problems and accidents. Residents will be legally buying marijuana in neighboring towns and drive through Oak Lawn. We’ll have to deal with those problems. We’ll be forced to have more police and paramedics to handle violations in the law and the accidents that are inevitable.”

Conservative estimates place revenue generated from a cannabis business around $300,000 annually.

“That would go a long way toward helping Oak Lawn keeping police and fire activities down as a result of marijuana use,” Stalker said.

Tr. Tim Desmond (Dist. 1) also voted against opting out.

“It was hard balancing the budget,” Desmond said. “This is a new source of revenue I would hope that we take advantage of and allow the sale of marijuana. It’s a legal business. There is no reason in the world that we shouldn’t tax it and take the money.”

Although village board members have said no to pot shops for now, they can revisit the ban at a future date.