CITY HALL — A nomadic medical-marijuana dispensary rejected in Chatham might land in South Chicago after an alderman gave it tentative support.
"So far, the community is all right" with it, said Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th) on Monday at City Hall.
Harborside Illinois Grown Medicine has a hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals set for Friday for a special-use permit for a medical-marijuana dispensary to be located at 8554 S. Commercial Ave. in South Chicago.
"It's a corner that's been pretty dormant," Garza said. "It's a pretty high-crime area. So they're gonna have 24-hour security. They're gonna have to have cameras."
Adding that the firm had promised to put $1.8 million into the location, Garza called it "kind of a no-brainer."
According to Garza, initial meetings with community leaders suggested "the consensus was that they're OK with it," with perhaps a couple of stipulations. Garza said another community meeting was set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at 9204 S. Commercial Ave. That meeting with community leaders and groups was to be held by the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce, Garza said, "but if somebody would like to come, we're not gonna turn anyone away."
That's quite different from the greeting the proposed dispensary received in Chatham for a proposed clinic at 1111 E. 87th St., technically in Calumet Heights.
Harborside initially claimed the support of Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), but Chatham residents raised issues and eventually claimed victory when the proposal was withdrawn before the Zoning Board of Appeals in November.
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