Peoria sets limit on number of cannabis dispensaries in city

After months of debate and policy crafting, the Peoria City Council has settled on, for now, a cannabis dispensary policy that caps the number of dispensaries allowed to operate in the city at six, while also carving out areas where no cannabis dispensaries can operate.

The council voted unanimously to pass the policy that restricts cannabis dispensaries from opening in the Sheridan Triangle neighborhood center, Prospect Road neighborhood center, West Main local commerce and neighborhood center and the Warehouse District local commerce and neighborhood center.

Not everyone was on board with the council’s unanimous decision, however.

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Allowing a cannabis dispensary in the Warehouse District was a point of contention between the City Council and the Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission, which recommended a plan to the council that would have allowed a dispensary to operate in the Warehouse District.

But the council felt the Warehouse District — a burgeoning combination of residential condos, apartments, bars and other businesses — was not the right fit for a dispensary.

“As the dialogue evolved and we were making these changes, the consensus of council was we don’t want cannabis dispensaries in residential areas, and the Warehouse District has become more and more residential,” said 3rd District City Council member Tim Riggenbach.

Riggenbach noted the policy can always change but said there was no community desire from Warehouse District residents to have a dispensary there.

Tough decisions ahead for cannabis applicants

Mayor Rita Ali said she would have liked to see the council take a more open approach to cannabis in the city, expanding the number of dispensaries to eight rather than six, especially after the results of a public survey showed the Peoria community had a relatively open stance on cannabis.

“I would have supported having more, probably up to eight versus six — six was a little on the minimal side, in my viewpoint,” Ali said. “I think we have to also listen to our constituents who were more of a liberal voice.”

Riggenbach said the number six was decided on as a proportion to Peoria’s population, based on what other cities of a similar size have done.

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“Six seemed like a reasonable number based on what other states have done and our population,” Riggenbach said. “It was not just pulling a number out of a hat, which is something we tried to purposely avoid.”

With two dispensaries already active in Peoria, the cap of six allowed to operate means some already approved applicants will be left on the outside looking in. In 2022, nine state licenses were issued to cannabis dispensaries trying to open in Peoria.

Under Peoria’s new policy, only four of those nine will be able to open.

Who has applied for dispensary licenses?

Four of those applicants have already had a special use permit granted by the city. They are: Northern Cardinal Ventures LLC at 7628 W. Route 91; Exxotic Strains LLC at 1210 W. Glen Ave.; World of Weed at 3929 W. War Memorial Drive; and another dispensary at 4600 N. Brandywine Drive.

Of those four, however, only Exxotic Strains has had its building permit application approved. No permit has been issued yet because it has not paid fees.

Ali said she understands the Peoria City Council is “cautious” when it comes to cannabis policy, but she noted the city has had no problems with the two existing dispensaries thus far.

“What I do understand is these cannabis businesses are highly regulated by the state of Illinois and we have not had any problems,” Ali said. “We have not had crime, we have not had loitering outside these facilities, we have not had major criminal activity associated with the cannabis dispensary, so they have not been problematic in our city.”

“I don’t want the stereotype of these companies being associated with a certain profile of an individual,” Ali said. “There are very professional people who use cannabis for relaxation. There are certainly people that use the CBD for their ligaments, for healing purposes, again, relaxation.”

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