CHICAGO (CBS) — The City Council on Wednesday approved a plan to give downtown aldermen more control over where marijuana dispensaries can open in their neighborhoods.
The measure would require pharmacies wanting to open in the area bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, Division Street to the north, Halsted Street to the west and Roosevelt Road to the south to get zoning changes approved by the City Council, instead of the current one. process to get approval from the city’s Zoning Commission.
The ordinance would also allow pharmacies that open downtown to be located within 500 feet of a school, unlike the rest of the city.
Ald. Bill Conway (34th), who sponsored the proposal, said the aldermen who represent downtown know their neighborhoods better than the zoning board, and the measure would give them more control over where downtown marijuana businesses can open.
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) has argued that the zoning board often makes poor decisions about whether to open pharmacies.
Supporters of the ordinance have also argued that it will reduce the time and money needed to open marijuana dispensaries downtown by running the approval process through the City Council instead of the zoning board.
