Medical Cannabis Applications Due Next Week
With applications for cannabis facilities due no later than next week (the filing period is September 8-22, 2014), local zoning boards and
city councils in Illinois have been busy considering zoning applications to allow these
facilities within their jurisdiction. Illinois medical cannabis law is arguably the
strictest of the 24 laws that have been enacted across the country, allowing
licenses for only 22 marijuana cultivation sites and 60 dispensaries, that have to be distributed among specified geographic regions throughout the state through a
competitive licensing process.
One of the requirements in the state licensing application is a
certification that the proposed cultivation facility or dispensary complies
with all local building and zoning codes. While municipalities cannot ban cannabis
facilities outright, they can restrict them to specific districts or impose
reasonable conditions on their permits. Some
municipalities have amended their zoning codes to require special use permits
for the facilities; others have restricted them to particular zoning districts,
such as the agricultural or industrial districts.
Although it was assumed that these facilities would be hotly contested, in
reality many communities are coming around in favor of the facilities because
of the potential economic benefits medical cannabis can bring. Some communities have been actively
negotiating with cannabis companies to provide financial and other benefits to the
community if the facilities are approved.
Wherever Illinois' 60 medical marijuana dispensaries and 22 cultivation
facilities are eventually located, it looks like patients will not be the only
ones to benefit. Medical cannabis will be a boon to business in Illinois—not to
mention a boon to government. The non-refundable state application fee for a
cultivation facility license is $25,000; operating fees for successful
licensees will total in the hundreds of thousands annually. And due to a little
local clout in the decision-making process, counties and municipalities may end
up benefiting as well.
Post Authored by Julie Tappendorf
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