May 17—BELLEVILLE — A request to open Belleville’s first marijuana store off Illinois 15 sailed through a City Council vote earlier this month but a request for a second cannabis dispensary has stalled for now.
The second dispensary was proposed for a former payday loan shop at 4529 W. Main St., on the corner of North Belt West and West Main Street.
To clear the way for the proposed dispensary, aldermen were asked to approve two regulatory changes but one measure, an ordinance amendment, narrowly failed and the other, a special-use permit request, was tabled during the City Council meeting on Monday.
Project Equity Illinois Inc. wants to renovate the vacant, condemned building to sell marijuana for both recreational and medicinal uses.
Conor Johnston, a partner with Project Equity Illinois, said after the meeting he was “disappointed” the council didn’t change the ordinance but he was “optimistic that we live to fight another day and hopefully we can address concerns that were raised.”
In a rarely used voting process that permits the mayor to vote, Mayor Patty Gregory cast the deciding vote to reject the ordinance amendment.
The proposed amendment to what’s known as the “adult-use cannabis dispensing organization” ordinance would have changed the way measurements are made to determine how far a marijuana store is from a residentially zoned area and it would have allowed three dispensaries in the city instead of the current limit of two.
Under the current ordinance, a marijuana dispensary must be at least 400 feet from a residential area. But the change would allow for a measurement to be taken via public streets and sidewalks.
In this case under the current rule, the proposed store would be less than 300 feet from a residential area located on Friendly Drive behind a beauty supply store currently under construction.
It would be nearly 600 feet from the proposed store to the residential area, if the route included the public right of way.
The initial vote was 8-7 in favor of the ordinance change, with Ward 8 Alderwoman Nora Sullivan absent.
After the 8-7 vote was tallied, City Attorney Garrett Hoerner told the council that when half of the aldermen vote in favor of an ordinance, motion or resolution, the mayor can cast a vote.
With Gregory voting against the proposed ordinance change, the vote became 8-8, meaning it failed to pass for lack of a majority.
“I vote no only because I believe that we need to find a better location,” Gregory told the council. “I, too, am worried about the ingress, egress there and I’m also concerned about that whole area and I see the point of upgrading that area which I believe is important to upgrade, especially on the west end of Belleville.”
Gregory told the council that “hopefully we would consider opportunities” that are “out away from residential.”
Here’s how the council members voted on the ordinance amendment: The eight “yes” votes were cast by Joe Hazel of Ward 1; Jamie Eros and Carmen Duco of Ward 2; Kent Randle of Ward 3; Johnnie Anthony of Ward 4; Ed Dintelman and Shelly Schaefer of Ward 5; and Phil Elmore of Ward 7.
The seven “no” votes were cast by Bryan Whitaker of Ward 1; Scott Ferguson of Ward 3; Raffi Ovian of Ward 4; Chris Rothweiler and Mary Stiehl of Ward 6; Dennis Weygandt of Ward 7; and Kara Osthoff of Ward 8.
The vote to table the special-use permit request was 11-4.
Marijuana store debate
The vote on the proposed dispensary not only divided the council, it also divided the two council members who represent Ward 3, where the site is located.
Ward 3 Alderman Ken Randle supported the store while Ward 3 Alderman Scott Ferguson opposed it.
Randle acknowledged that some residents may be opposed to the marijuana store over religious or moral reasons.
“Do I want to approve something that might feed somebody’s addiction? I don’t know that I’ve met somebody that was addicted to marijuana, certainly other products they become addicted to as well,” Randle told the council. “Have I dealt with addiction in my own family? … Yes I have and I’ve seen what that abuse can do but it wasn’t as a result of marijuana use.”
Ferguson said he is employed by an area church and works with people who have “addictions.”
“I do work with people who struggle with addictions,” Ferguson said. “This is something that many people do struggle with.”
He also raised concerns about the parking and accessibility of the site as well as the change in the process of measuring distances between a marijuana store and residential areas.
“I’m not sure this is a plus to that intersection,” Ferguson said.
Randle said he believes the Project Equity Illinois store would spur other investment in the area and that the site is good because it has easy access to bus lines, which are not available at the Illinois 15 dispensary already approved by the city.
As far as the parking concerns, Johnston said he is talking to a nearby property owner about possibly using additional spaces in the shopping center that currently includes a Rally’s restaurant and a Save A Lot grocery store.
Johnston said Project Equity has marijuana stores in California with apartments above them and that the stores offer an alternative to people selling drugs illegally in California.
“You have the same type of drug dealers in this city now,” he said. “What we are doing in the regulated industry is an opportunity to bring that economic activity into the light and to pay taxes and to create jobs and to be a part of the community.”
Marijuana sales tax revenue
City Council members both for and against the Project Equity Illinois plan noted that marijuana dispensaries could be a giant boost to the city’s revenue.
City leaders expect the dispensary approved for a site off Illinois 15 to be the top sales tax revenue generator for the city of Belleville.
This location is at 7300 Twin Pyramid Parkway, which is near the intersection of Illinois 15 and South 74th Street. The brick building, which has two pyramid shapes as part of its roof, previously was the location of Belleville Oncology.
Washington, D.C.-based Blounts & Moore on May 2 received a permit to open the Illinois 15 location.
A representative of the company could not be reached for comment but Clifford Cross, director of the city’s Economic Development, Planning & Zoning Department, has said he believes the dispensary will be open in six months.
Based on an ordinance the city passed in 2019, the city will collect 3% of the sales at the dispensary.
Other places that already sell marijuana in the metro-east include sites in Collinsville, Fairview Heights and Sauget.
Illinois began allowing marijuana sales for recreational use on Jan. 1, 2020. In 2021, the industry had $1.37 billion in sales in the state.
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 7:00 AM.
(c)2022 the Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Ill.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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