WEST LOOP — A plan to open a medical marijuana dispensary at a Fulton Market site would be "very hard" for Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. to support, he said Friday.
After receiving state approval, strip club owner and trucking executive Perry Mandera plans to open Custom Strains, a medical marijuana dispensary in a vacant building at 1105 W. Fulton St.
But Mandera's plan to house a medical marijuana dispensary at the existing site would require a zoning change, Burnett said, and with community opposition, he couldn't support the plan, he said.
"He has to get the support of the community, which he doesn't have," Burnett said. "That's going to be an uphill battle."
Burnett said that neighbors adjacent to the site are "adamantly against" the plan to install a dispensary at the site. The alderman has asked Mandera to locate alternative sites in the West Loop for the dispensary instead, he said Friday.
"I was hoping he would try to move it around, and he knows that," Burnett said. "So now he's gotta go work on the community. The community can change, it's not impossible."
Leslie Fox, a spokeswoman for Mandera, confirmed that he still wants to use the 1105 W. Fulton site to house the medical marijuana dispensary. Mandera is meeting with architects now, she said.
In October, a handful of Fulton Market business owners said they were against Mandera's plan to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the neighborhood.
Despite initially contending that Mandera's plan needed further review, Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration issued a license for the dispensary in February. The city granted a special-use permit to operate the dispensary in November.
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