JEFFERSON PARK — A proposal to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the heart of Jefferson Park was approved Friday by city officials without the support of Ald. John Arena (45th).
Curative Health's request for a special-use permit from city officials to open the dispensary at 4758 N. Milwaukee Ave. got the OK from city's Zoning Board of Appeals. The dispensary also requires a license from state officials.
Arena, whose ward office is just a few storefronts away from the proposed dispensary near Lawrence and Milwaukee avenues, took no position on the proposal, which drew a mixed reaction from many nearby residents, said Arena's chief of staff Owen Brugh.
The dispensary will be allowed to be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., but Curative Health officials told the zoning board they anticipated the dispensary would operate during a more limited time frame.
The city's Department of Planning and Development supported the request for a special use permit, officials said Friday.
Jefferson Park resident Frank Suerth said at the hearing he supported the proposal, as did many of his neighbors.
The dispensary will employ between 12 and 16 people and have two guards, one inside and one outside. One guard will be on duty around-the-clock, officials said.
In addition, the dispensary will be monitored by security cameras connected to the city's emergency operations system, and will also have motion detectors, alarms, fingerprint security doors and back-to-back secure doors.
At a Nov. 3 community meeting, the proposal drew fire from some who said they were concerned the dispensary would be a magnet for crime, decrease property values and endanger children using the playgrounds at Jefferson Park Memorial Park and Wilson Park as well as the Jefferson Park library.
But others said the dispensary would provide a valuable service that would help people suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer and glaucoma.
Nicholas Vita, chief executive officer of Curative Health, which also operates dispensaries in Washington, D.C., Arizona and Massachusetts, said the firm's "impeccable" track record made the chance of significant problems unlikely and promised to make substantial contributions to local nonprofit groups if allowed to open.
The alderman's office received about a half-dozen emails about the proposal after the community meeting that were also split, Brugh said.
"Those emails and the reaction at the community meeting prompted the alderman's decision to make no recommendation," Brugh said.
A proposal from EuFlora Health Center, which is based Downtown, to open a dispensary at 4760½ N. Milwaukee Ave., two storefronts away from the proposed Curative clinic, was also on the zoning board's agenda Friday but a decision on that application was postponed until the board's December meeting at the alderman's request, Brugh said.
EuFlora has not yet held a community meeting, as the alderman requires, Brugh said.
It is unlikely both dispensaries would be approved by state and city officials, Arena said at the community meeting.
State officials have said they plan to issue no more than two licenses for dispensaries in Jefferson Township, which includes most of the Far Northwest Side.
A third application for a special permit in Jefferson Township and the 45th Ward has been made by California-based IL Grown Medicine at 4739 W. Montrose Ave. in Old Irving Park.
Dispensaries must be 1,000 feet from schools and daycare centers and can't be in residences, according to city regulations. Thirteen of the 60 Illinois dispensaries can be in the city, according to state law.
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