Park Ridge approves five districts for cannabis dispensaries to buffer between the two that are allowed

Park Ridge city ordinances limit the city to two cannabis dispensaries within its boundaries, but at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, city staff proposed mapping out districts as to where in the city they could locate.

Community Preservation and Development Director Drew Awsumb pitched three different maps to City Council members at the meeting. Those included a map with two districts, a map with three districts and a map with five districts. Council members unanimously voted on a Park Ridge map with five zones in which potential cannabis dispensaries could open up.

Awsumb said his reasoning for presenting a five-district map was that it “gives the city the most, I guess, potential to really force the buffer [between dispensaries] and where it’s almost like business districts,” said Awsumb.

A two-district map, he pointed out, could split the city in half, but could potentially lead to having two dispensaries on the same street, if the boundary is split in the middle of the street and one is on each side.

In June, the city council effectively revoked a permit, by declining to renew it, for a dispensary at 10 West Higgins Road. The council approved a special use permit for a dispensary at 1036 West Higgins in August 2022; it is opening this week.

6th Ward alderperson Rick Biagi said he would be interested in creating a second rule that would limit each district to only one dispensary and allow room for vacant districts between them to make sure they wouldn’t be too close.

5th Ward alderperson Joseph Steinfels pointed out that there might be a “perception issue” if residents assumed that five zones meant five dispensaries could open up shop in town. 1st Ward alderperson John Moran countered, saying “it’d be incumbent upon us to be very thorough in our communication, that the number of dispensary licenses isn’t changing.”

As for next steps, Awsumb said the zoning changes would require a couple of months to go through a public hearing and legal notice process before they head back to City Council.

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