Plans to expand where recreational marijuana businesses can open in Niles were put on hold after an elected official expressed interest in adding even more new areas than were proposed.
Trustee Dean Strzelecki on Feb. 22 motioned to table a proposal for expanding the boundaries of the village’s southern Cannabis Establishment Overlay District. Strzelecki explained that he wants village staff to explore additional commercial properties that might be included in the expanded district.
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Specifically, Strzelecki said he would like the entire “Touhy Triangle” area to be available for a potential recreational marijuana business. Under the proposal that went to the Village Board on Feb. 22, not all properties within the triangle were recommended to allow marijuana businesses.
“I want, if we can, to include the whole Touhy Avenue Triangle into the overlay,” Strzelecki said.
The Touhy Triangle is bordered by Touhy Avenue, Lehigh Avenue, Caldwell Avenue and Gross Point Road.
Village of Niles Spokesman Mitch Johnson said some properties within the triangle were omitted because village or state restrictions would prohibit marijuana businesses on them. Specifically, the properties are located too close to education and religious sites, Johnson said.
“Instead of making everything part of the overlay district and then relying on the restrictions to exclude certain areas, the village omitted the areas that would be incompatible,” Johnson said.
Properties omitted from the triangle are largely located along Touhy Avenue and and the southwest portion of Gross Point Road.
Strzelecki said he would like more information on why the properties were omitted and whether any changes to the village’s marijuana laws might be needed to allow additional expansion of the district.
In Niles, there are distance restrictions between marijuana businesses and schools, daycare centers, playgrounds and churches.
The Niles Planning and Zoning Board on Feb. 7 voted 6-1 to recommend the addition of several new properties to the southern Cannabis Establishment Overlay District. The additional properties, which were requested by village staff, are located west of Lehigh, north of Touhy Avenue and along a portion of Gross Point Road in the Touhy Triangle. Another property proposed for the overlay district is located north of Jarvis Street and east of Menard Avenue.
The current overlay district largely covers areas east of Lehigh Avenue and south of Jarvis Street.
An expansion of the Cannabis Establishment Overlay District was being sought by the village in order to offer future business operators more location options, Johnson said.
The village’s other Cannabis Establishment Overlay District is located on the north side of the village, where a dispensary currently operates near Milwaukee Avenue and Golf Road.