Just days after the Park Ridge City Council formally voted to allow the city’s first recreational marijuana dispensary, a proposal for a second dispensary was slated to go before the city’s plan commission for consideration.
The Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 23 was set to hear a request for a dispensary interested in opening on the site of the former Park Ridge VFW building at the northwest corner of Higgins and Canfield Roads.
Plans call for the building, which has been vacant for several years, to be remodeled and for the dispensary to occupy the entire space, said Claudia Hampel, zoning coordinator of the city.
The applicant is Earth’s Design Recreational Dispensary, based in Portland, Oregon, according to the application. The name of the proposed dispensary is Bridge City Collective.
In order for the dispensary to open, the property, which is currently zoned for residential use, must be rezoned for business, and a special-use permit must be approved for the dispensary operation, according to the city.
On Feb. 7, the Park Ridge City Council granted final approval for a 4,660-square-foot marijuana dispensary at 1036 Higgins Road — located about a half-mile from the Higgins and Canfield site.
The city currently allows no more than two dispensaries to operate at any one time.
The city will collect a 3% tax on marijuana products sold in addition to state and home rule sales tax, according to the ordinances approved by the council.
10 W. Higgins served as the Park Ridge VFW Post 3579 headquarters for decades until the organization sold the property and moved to Niles in 2015.
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The land, which was located within unincorporated Cook County, was annexed into the city of Park Ridge in 2016.