Glencoe Trustees Take Pass On Pot Shops Within Village Limits

GLENCOE, IL — Village trustees voted unanimously Thursday against allowing cannabis business establishments within Glencoe anytime soon, acknowledging passionate opposition from some residents and a lack of interest in potentially opening such a business.

The Glencoe Village Board directed staff to draw up an ordinance that forbids any of the new types of businesses authorized under Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, including recreational marijuana dispensaries, craft growers, cultivation centers, infusers, processors and transporters.

"It is the overwhelming current opinion of the board that the village should prohibit the sale of recreational cannabis in Glencoe, and I suspect we're not going to hear a lot from you tonight that will change our mind on that," Village President Larry Levin said, after hearing from each trustee.

The Nov. 21 vote followed over an hour of public comment and four earlier public hearings, including a review by the zoning commission completed last month. In June, even before the law legalizing cannabis possession and authorizing its sale was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, the board passed a "red flag" resolution forbidding any cannabis businesses and calling for a review process to establish zoning and land use regulations.

Tasked with reviewing where to potentially allow cannabis businesses if the village board decided to allow it, the zoning commission recommended allowing them in the highway frontage district to the west of the Edens Expressway and was split 3-3 on whether to allow any cannabis businesses in business districts.

According to village staff, the overwhelming majority of more than 100 letters, emails and phone calls from residents were opposed to allowing recreational cannabis businesses in town. Winnetka Village President Chris Rintz urged the village board in a letter not to allow recreational cannabis in the business district neighboring his town, and Glencoe School District 35 Superintendent Catherine Wang told Levin and Village Manager Phil Kiraly that she and the school board were concerned about allowing recreational marijuana to be sold.

Levin began the discussion by explaining how he had lobbied against the statewide legalization of recreational cannabis as co-chair of the Northwest Municipal Conference's Legislative Committee.

"When it was clear that the legislature was focused on new tax revenues and not public safety considerations, I worked to gain stronger provisions to help municipalities protect our residents from the consequences of recreational cannabis becoming legal for those over 21 years of age this coming Jan. 1 . While the state provided some safeguards, I do not think they are enough and, on behalf of the Northwest Municipal Conference and you, I continue to work for further legislative changes," Levin said. He did not respond to an inquiry as to what further changes he sought.

Levin said the village had solicited public opinion on the subject and thanked residents for contacting trustees directly. He noted an online petition opposing recreational cannabis sales in the village had gathered more than 700 signatures.

"Through this substantial response we have now received from our residents, the board and I have been made aware of some very strong beliefs that, while the sale and use of recreational cannabis will be legal in the state of Illinois starting Jan. 1, many of our residents strongly believe the sale of cannabis and cannabis-related products should not be allowed in Glencoe. To be fair, some — but not many and many fewer than those opposed — of our residents have expressed support for allowing cannabis related sales in our village," he said.

Levin said the only reason the board was considering allowing for the sale of recreational cannabis was to generate revenue without further taxing residents.

"The state has continued to take away various revenues such as our share of the state income tax and the corporate personal property replacement tax in order to pay the state's bills, while at the same time continuing to increase the unfunded mandates the state places on us, further draining our revenues," he said, noting a recent example of a pension consolidation bill he estimated would cost the village an additional $1.5 million over the next 10 years in addition to a $350,000 increase already planned for next year.

"So, I hope you can understand why your board of trustees is searching for ways to increase revenues other than through property tax increases. At the same time, I think the overwhelming sense that I get from our residents, from you, is that you would rather we look to things like becoming Home Rule to help us find non-property tax revenue, rather than cannabis sales with all of the moral issues cannabis entails."

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The village president then asked trustees to summarize their current views on whether to allow cannabis business establishments.

Trustee Peter Mulvaney said he would have been opposed to allowing businesses anywhere but the Frontage Road site, which he had been interested in learning more about.

"Given the competing sites with other communities that have agreed to open dispensaries and the complete lack of interest, of any business expressing interest in opening a dispensary in Glencoe, anywhere in Glencoe and certainly not in the Frontage Road site, I would be opposed at this point to approve dispensaries in Glencoe," Mulvaney said. "I don't see that there's any real business interest, and hearing from the community, in general, it seems that there is certainly a strong sentiment against it."

Trustee John Halwax acknowledged the time and effort staff and commissioners put into researching the issue. He said both sides of the argument should appreciate how objectively the village board addressed the issue. Halwax also referenced Levin's explanation of the village's need for future revenue sources.

"This is going to show us that if we want to keep Glencoe idyllic and special we're going to have to make some decisions around the types of services we want and what we're willing to pay for and how we're going to pay for it," Halwax said. He said he believed the highway site might be plausible, but with plans for a nearby Northbrook dispensary in the works it did not seem feasible.

Trustee Barbara Miller said there were a lot of potential unforeseen consequences if the village were to allow cannabis businesses.

"The people who have said to me that they are in favor of allowing this are not nearly as passionately in favor as the people opposed are opposed. What they mostly have said is please consider the facts, please don't let emotions get the better of you, please be proactive about this, all of which I think we are really trying to do," Miller said.

Miller said it seemed like a majority of residents were opposed to allowing the sale of recreational marijuana. She said many felt it would go against the intangible identity of Glencoe, which is subjective, yet very real.

"So if the people in my community are telling me that the community that they envision, at least at this point, doesn't include a dispensary — over the Edens or not — I would be inclined to vote against it,"

Trustee Jonathan Vree thanked residents for their involvement in the process. He said trustees had been interested in the potential revenue while recognizing the costs were unknown.

"We also have Northbrook that's opening a dispensary very soon. And so that sort of beat us to it — not that we were imminently going to open one, but it allows us the opportunity to see what it all means. They're putting one basically in Glencoe anyway."

A Greenhouse-branded dispensary has been proposed for the intersection of Skokie Valley and Dundee roads, which is about 500 meters from the village's borders. It would be among the largest dispensaries in the state and is expected to be operational by spring 2020.

Vree said if the new dispensary winds up being more like a big box liquor store than a costly hazard, the board can always reconsider its restriction.

"At this point, I think there isn't a rush," he said. "The only good location would really be on Frontage Road, there isn't really space there anyway. We have a test case that's going to happen whether or not we want it to."

Trustee Gary Ruben said he appreciated the community's civil and knowledgeable engagement in important subjects.

"Unlike some places — and things that are going on in the country right now — we can all still talk with each other, have a dialogue, have a conversation," Ruben said.

"The fact of the matter is I feel like we're all up here representing all of you, and that that trumps any particular view that I have," he said. "And frankly, from a pragmatic standpoint I honestly don't see a realistic 'win' financially even if we were to take a vote and here we would've been making a great many of our residents extremely upset, very reasonably, for no good reason."

Trustee Gail Lissner said she had been very opposed to recreational cannabis sales in the village from the beginning. She said she had not thought such businesses would be compatible anywhere but the other side of the expressway.

"We found out so many compelling reasons why, even on the west side of the Expressway it was not going to be a compatible use for Glencoe," Lissner said. "I think we all feel very passionate about Glencoe. I think it would detract from the image of Glencoe."

The final vote on an ordinance amending the village's zoning code to forbid cannabis business establishments is set for Dec. 19.

More: Watch the Nov. 21, 2019, meeting of the Glencoe Village Board of Trustees