Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
The Springfield City Council approved a zoning map Tuesday evening setting the parameters for the sale and cultivation of recreational cannabis within city limits. The move comes less than two months before recreational marijuana becomes legal across Illinois and more than two months after the council first set the process in motion.
Though some objections were raised throughout the process by citizens and a handful of city officials concerned about the possible negative impacts from marijuana, permitting recreational dispensaries and cultivation centers within city limits was never in doubt as a clear majority of council members sought not to lose out on tax revenue from the sales of a substance that will soon be legal across the state.
Under the zoning restrictions passed by the council, cultivation centers and dispensaries would be allowed as a conditional permitted use in S-3, I-1 and I-2 zoning districts. Dispensaries would be allowed as a conditional permitted use in B-1 and B-2 zoning districts.
The council also tacked on amendments that standardize the minimum setback for schools, churches and parks at 1,500 feet; include a grandfather clause for HCI Alternatives, 628 E. Adams St., which would otherwise be out of compliance with the setbacks at their downtown location due to its close proximity to downtown churches; and allow dispensaries to stay open until 10 p.m., two hours later than previously allowed.
Currently, only five recreational dispensary licenses are permitted in the Springfield metropolitan area, which includes Sangamon and Menard counties. Four will go to existing medicinal facilities, HCI and Maribis of Springfield, 2272 N Grand Ave E., which will each sell recreational cannabis at their existing sites and at a secondary site.
HCI has tentative plans to open their secondary site adult-use dispensary in the former Outback Steakhouse at 3201 Horizon Drive on the city’s east side. Maribis has yet to disclose their plans.
Another ordinance, proposed by Mayor Jim Langfelder, would have capped the number of dispensaries within city limits at five and at one per ward. But a motion to vote on the ordinance did not receive a second and it was thus not taken up.
Langfelder, who has sought to limit the proliferation of marijuana in Springfield, said the idea was to establish local control on the issue in case the state decides later to allow additional dispensaries in the metro area.
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, the council’s most prominent critic of recreational marijuana, expressed concern about what widespread availability in the capital city would mean, especially for the downtown area.
“I think we should just have a more restrictive attitude about that that we just don’t want people coming downtown to get high using infused products and so forth,” McMenamin said. “They wouldn’t need to be smoking, they can get a gummy ball and be outside and pass around gummy balls and we just don’t want to do that to our downtown.”
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 