Medical Marijuana Growers, Dispensaries Could Be Coming to Glenview

Medical marijuana cultivation centers and dispensaries could be coming to Glenview, after a state law allowing the businesses took effect Jan. 1.

The village may be trying to limit where those businesses can open, however. At Tuesday night's village board meeting, trustees are expected to consider an ordinance that would restrict cultivation centers and dispensaries in the I-2 light industrial district as a conditional use. 

The new state law allows people with certain qualifying conditions to obtain a physician's recommendation for medical marijuana use, and permits up to 60 dispensaries and 22 cultivation centers to be established around Illinois. Cultivation centers may not be located within 2,500 feet of a pre-existing school, day care center or residential area, while dispensaries may not be located within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare, and may not be operated out of a home. 

Legislators are still working out other details of the act, including regulations for distributors and standards for growers. In the meantime, municipalities such as Glenview cannot "unreasonably prohibit the cultivation, dispensing and use of medical cannabis" under the act, according to village documents. 

While the state law preempts home rule authority, municipalities may still enact zoning regulations to restrict locations of dispensaries, according to village documents. 

If approved, Glenview's regulations would require medical marijuana cultivation centers or dispensaries to obtain a conditional use permit from the village through a special approval process. Most other municipalities that are considering or have approved local regulations are also planning a conditional use process, according to the village. Some towns in Lake County have issued a moratorium on medical marijuana establishments while further state regulation is enacted.

If trustees pass the ordinance on Tuesday night's agenda, medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation centers would also be restricted to the I-2 light industrial district, a zoning area that is the most separate from the village's residential neighborhoods, schools and daycares. 

So far, there have been no serious inquiries from marijuana cultivation centers or dispensaries hoping to open in Glenview, according to village spokesperson Lynne Stiefel. Nearby, a clinic hoping to open to write medical marijuana recommendations in Niles and Morton Grove has run into trouble getting approval from the local zoning boards.

A public hearing will be held on the matter at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, at Village Hall, 1225 Waukegan Rd. in Glenview.