The village of Niles is looking to expand where potential marijuana dispensaries can operate within the community.
The Niles Planning and Zoning Board has been asked to consider changes to the village’s zoning laws concerning districts where recreational marijuana businesses are allowed.
The board was scheduled to meet on Feb. 7. A potential recommendation could go to the Niles Village Board for a vote on Feb. 22.
The proposal, presented by village administration, calls for adding more than a dozen properties to the existing Cannabis Establishment Overlay District on the south end of the village, which largely covers areas east of Lehigh Avenue and south of Jarvis Street.
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The additional properties the village seeks to add are located west of Lehigh, north of Touhy Avenue and along a portion of Gross Point Road in what is known at the Touhy Triangle. Another property is located north of Jarvis Street and east of Menard Avenue.
An expansion of the Cannabis Establishment Overlay District is being sought by the village in order to offer future business operators more location options, said Village Spokesman Mitch Johnson.
“Because there are limitations beyond our zoning ordinance where they can go, it becomes especially relevant to have a broader area of options,” he said.
According to information provided by the village, challenges to potential dispensary or marijuana craft grower operators include the number of Real Estate Investment Trusts that are located within the existing overlay district. The village describes these as federally chartered public companies that are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Because the sale of recreational marijuana is still prohibited at the federal level, the properties cannot contain marijuana businesses, the village said.
Additionally, some large retail companies that currently operate within the overlay district have lease provisions prohibiting marijuana businesses from operating within their shopping centers, according to the village.
“Expanding that zone gives more options, especially with those other restrictions in place,” Johnson explained.
At this time, no prospective dispensary operators have approached the village with interest of locating within the area that is not currently within the overlay district, he said.
Other existing restrictions within the village’s zoning ordinance, such as prohibitions against marijuana businesses operating within 1,000 feet of a school or within 500 feet of a religious institution, park or playground, will not change, according to the village.
The closure of the Leaning Tower YMCA, which operated a daycare, has made it possible to expand the overlay district into this area, documents from the village said.
There are currently two Cannabis Establishment Overlay Districts in the village. The second is located on the north end of the village, north of Golf Road, between Western Avenue and the ComEd substation east of Walmart.
Niles is home to one recreational marijuana dispensary: Rise, which opened within the northern overlay district at 9621 N. Milwaukee Ave. in May 2020.
The Cannabis Establishment Overlay Districts were approved by the Niles Village Board in October 2018. Earlier, the Niles Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended a third overlay district for an area north of Howard Street and east of Melvina Avenue, but it was removed by the Niles Village Board.
Marijuana businesses are prohibited from opening within 5,000 feet of each other under village ordinance.