UPTOWN — Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) told a group of community members he doesn't anticipate an Andersonville medical marijuana dispensary would deter small businesses from opening up shop nearby.
"If you look at what's happening in other parts of the country where there are dispensaries, they are seeing a renaissance," said Pawar, addressing the roughly dozen community members who attended the bimonthly North Uptown Neighbors Association meeting, held Wednesday night at the Bezazian Library at 1226 W. Ainsle St.
He added jokingly: "I don't know if everyone likes that kind of renaissance."
Pawar spent the bulk of the meeting defending the clinic to residents who, without ever getting heated, brought up a few different concerns about the proposed dispensary, run by The Cannabis Group LLC, which was one of 52 applicants to gain a coveted state license earlier this week.
The group wants to set up shop in the home of a former pizza joint at 5001 N. Clark St., but it still needs to obtain a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, which will be decided at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 20.
Rene Begy, who has lived in Uptown for a decade, said the stretch of Clark Street where the dispensary would be located has a lot of abandoned storefronts. She seemed skeptical that any new businesses would want to be neighbors with a medical marijuana dispensary.
Begy posed the question: "Would a business want to be in the storefront next door with no foot traffic versus another location where people are stopping into stores?"
"There was an expectation that someone was going to pick up their medical marijuana and then go shopping, but those people are seriously ill," she said.
In response, Pawar said he thought the dispensary would be "generally positive" for the neighborhood, including new businesses, but that he "certainly doesn't think opening it is going to kickstart Clark Avenue."
"We have to work with the chamber. Lawrence Avenue was a dead zone, and is no longer a dead zone," he said, referring to the Lawrence Avenue Streetscape, a project designed to revitalize Lawrence Avenue. "I don't see why we couldn't also work together on Clark Street."
Resident John Vanover said he thought the dispensary seemed like a "back-door way to legalize marijuana," and asked why couldn't it be sold at existing pharmacies like Walgreens.
His wife, Shelly, also chimed in, saying that the fact that the dispensary would be cash-only "bothers her." Plus, she said, there's no parking around the proposed location.
"It'll essentially be a convenience store, with people pulling in and out," she said.
Pawar's chief of staff, Jim Poole, said there while there was metered parking, "if it becomes an issue, [we] can handle that in real time."
Addressing the issue of the dispensary being cash-only, Pawar said he believed those regulations would "ease up as soon as some of these big pharmaceutical companies see the dollar signs here."
Zachary Zises is the chief financial officer for The Cannabis Group LLC and a principal for a group that helps foreigners invest in the state. His sister-in-law Kristie Zises is the CEO, and Paul Lee will run day-to-day operations. Kristie's husband and Zachary's brother, Bryan Zises, works for the state, but Zachary said Bryan was not involved in the business.
No one from The Cannabis Group LLC attended Wednesday's meeting, but representatives from the group have met with community members before.
More than 60 members of the Winona Foster Carmen Winnemac block club met with representatives from The Cannabis Group and the 47th Ward on Jan. 13. They voted in favor of the clinic.
"If they came out with a really terrible plan that wasn't going to be approved by the state, I wouldn't stick my neck out even if I liked the concept," Pawar said.
"They put together a good package. It sounds like they came before the community and it went well."
Early on in the meeting Pawar also explained that he felt personally connected to bringing medical marijuana to the ward.
"I watched [someone I was close to] struggle with the pain and didn't have access to medical marijuana," he said. "I have lots of friends and family who know someone who's had to deal with this."
"It's going to ease a lot of pain for a lot of sick people. There are going to be conversations of a slippery slope [involving] crime. But there's a very narrow group of people who qualify."
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