Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
After hearing testimony from a handful of residents opposed to legalized marijuana for recreational use, members of the Springfield City Council Tuesday evening moved forward with a pair of ordinances that begin debate on zoning restrictions dictating where facilities for cultivating and selling could go in the city and how tax revenue generated from sales would be spent.
While receiving a sympathetic ear from some alderman who did not support statewide passage of legalization for recreational use, council members were mostly in agreement that if pot is going to be legal, the capital city should reap the benefits from it.
Many of the arguments against the ordinances were against marijuana legalization in general, with aldermen pointing out that Springfield residents will be able to legally possess weed regardless of whether sales and cultivation are allowed within city limits.
Community members opposed to recreational sales and cultivation within city limits cited statistics they say demonstrate the harmful impact marijuana can have on communities and on the health of individuals.
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The first ordinance proposes updates to the city’s zoning code to allow recreational sales and cultivation in city limits, which would largely mirror the restrictive rules in place for medical marijuana facilities.
The second ordinance would impose an additional 3 percent tax on pot sales within city limits, the maximum allowed under state law. The tax would be added on top of the city’s regular sales tax.
The revenue generated from the 3 percent tax would be split — half going toward funding police and fire pensions, and the other half to fund economic development purposes on the city’s east side.
A majority of council members expressed a desire to not leave revenue on the table.
Opponents had an ally in Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, who said he intends to propose an ordinance that would ban the practice.
“I think what many of the constituents are saying to us is, ‘We disagree with what the General Assembly did and a broad section has that point of view,’ and they’re saying, ‘Don’t make it easier to get this recreational marijuana, make it so they have to travel to the next county or two counties over or whatever, and let’s be leaders in Springfield,’” McMenamin said.
Others on the council took issue with McMenamin’s questioning of their reasons for supporting the ordinances. At one point, McMenamin, who has called out his colleagues in the past for their campaign contributions, asked other council members to disclose the contributions they have received from Chris Stone, who operates medical marijuana dispensary HCI Alternatives. Several scoffed at that, pointing out that it’s already public information on the State Board of Elections website.
If the council passes the zoning resolution at its Sept. 17 meeting, the proposed changes would be analyzed by the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission. It would then be referred to the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission. If passed there, the final vote would likely come at city council in November.
Like medical marijuana cultivation centers, adult use cultivation centers would be restricted from being within 2,500 feet of schools, day care centers and residentially zoned areas of Springfield, according to the ordinance. Cultivation centers also could not be within 1,500 feet of other cultivation centers or dispensaries.
Dispensaries would be restricted from being located within 1,500 feet of schools and day care centers, and they would not be allowed in areas zoned as residential.
However, Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley said amendments would likely be forthcoming. Among the areas being explored: expanding the zoning designations where dispensaries and cultivation centers are allowed to location.
But Mayor Jim Langfelder poured cold water on that suggestion, hoping to have assurances from the state first that the city would be able to cap the number of dispensaries in town. The idea, according to Langfelder, is to prevent the proliferation of cannabis from following how video gaming spread.
“If there’s a way to restrict or cap the number of locations, then that’s where I’d look at it,” Langfelder said. “I don’t want to water down the zoning portion of it unless we can get that guarantee with some type of cap restriction.”
There is a cap temporarily, however. Until at least 2021, only five dispensaries can open in the metropolitan region, which includes Sangamon and Menard counties. Two local medical marijuana dispensaries, HCI and Grandview-based Maribis of Springfield, have applied for adult use licenses and plan to open secondary locations solely for retail sales, as allowed under the law. This would leave just one more adult use license to be issued during the first wave.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 