DeKALB – A Chicago-based marijuana dispensary looking to set up shop in DeKalb will head to City Hall on Monday to ask for City Council approval, with a vote on a medical marijuana shop.
The Chicago-based company, BQ Enterprises, received approval for a medical marijuana dispensary from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 23 for a 3,600-square-foot space at 700 Peace Road, Suite B, and indicated it likely would pursue recreational sales, too, when the time comes. The council will vote on the matter during its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St.
The council also will take up a vote to impose a 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales.
Also on Monday’s agenda are several public hearings, including one ahead of a first-round vote on the fiscal 2020 budget, which is balanced, and the 2019 tax levy.
BQ Enterprises’ location follows the newly approved guidelines set by the council that ensure all dispensaries establish a 250-foot setback from schools, day care and preschool facilities and residential areas.
The space at 700 Peace Road (next to Competitive Edge Graphics and Promotions, Suite A) is part of a two-unit condominium, so the boundaries of the lot coincide with tenant space.
According to city documents, city staff members also are recommending a one-year time limit for the dispensary to obtain a state-issued license and an additional six months after approval of that license to complete a build-out of the Peace Road space it will be leasing.
The dispensary tried once before to set up shop in DeKalb, and was approved in March 2017 for a medical license, documents show, but the process was stalled after state licenses were put on hold.
The council has for months conveyed strong support for allowing recreational and marijuana sales in the city, citing economic growth and making DeKalb welcoming to all forms of the industry, including for craft growers, cultivation centers, infusers, processors, transporters and medical marijuana cultivation centers.
The soonest any recreational marijuana could be sold in DeKalb County is July 1.
According to city documents, the state of Illinois will limit dispensaries to 500 statewide, with 75 permits for recreational use issued to new sellers beginning May 1. Applications for that period will be accepted Dec. 10 through Jan. 2.
Although it will be legal in Illinois on Jan. 1 for adults older than 21 to possess and use marijuana, early licenses will be limited to established medical dispensaries.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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