Medical marijuana shops could bypass Franklin Park, if an early ranking by the state of Illinois holds true.
That’s based on how ex-Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration medical marijuana dispensary applicants, which was revealed in a list provided to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jay Chavda, owner of HopScotch in Franklin Park, had applied on behalf of a group of investors to open a marijuana dispensary at 3847 Carnation Street in an industrial section of the village.
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But the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation ranked Chavda’s application ninth out of 12 applications for the district that contains Franklin Park. Only one medical marijuana dispensary will be allowed in the district, which contains Proviso, Leyden and Norwood Park townships.
“Oh man,” said Chavda. “We really don’t know what criteria they judge it on. How they were scored.”
Franklin Park Village President Barrett Pedersen had no comment when informed of the state’s ranking. The village has restricted any medical marijuana businesses to an industrial area bordered by Seymour Avenue, Waveland Avenue, Mannheim Road and Carnation Street. By state law, the village government cannot forbid a medical marijuana dispensary within its borders.
The rankings released Jan. 26, however, may not be the last word. Those rankings were compiled when Quinn was governor; new governor Bruce Rauner’s administration plans to review the process used to determine those rankings and refer its findings to the state Attorney General.
In the meanwhile, no licenses will be granted.
But Chavda isn’t optimistic about the review moving his application up in the rankings.
“Nine is pretty far down,” he said.