Pubdate: Sat, 15 Feb 2014
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Authors: Becky Schlikerman and Fran Spielman

STATE TRUMPS CITY ON RULES FOR POT SITES

Ald. Burke Rips 'Arrogance' Of Proposal

Marijuana sellers should be able to open a medical dispensary in the 
center of Chicago, state officials said in recently unveiled documents.

Proposed rules by the state would allow up to 13 dispensaries to open 
all around the city to be sure patients throughout could easily fill 
their marijuana prescriptions.

The preliminary rules from the state could effectively put an end on 
the city's plan to confine the dispensaries to manufacturing 
districts within the city.

The proposed rules smack of "arrogance," said Ald. Edward Burke 
(14th), who bemoaned the lack of say city officials had on the issue.

"I think the people of Chicago have the right to input on where these 
dispensaries will be located, just as they have the right to input 
where other business uses would be located," he said. "Moreover, I 
believe the rule makers ... are misreading the legislation because 
the maps that were prepared by the Chicago department of planning 
seem to indicate that the existing state law dramatically limited the 
areas in which these dispensaries would be sited."

The state requires a dispensary to be 1,000 feet away from a school 
or day care center - and in a nonresidential area.

The state used township boundaries to dictate the number of 
dispensaries that should be allowed in a particular area of the city.

For instance in North Township, which is roughly bounded by Fullerton 
to the north and follows the edge of the Chicago River to the west 
and south, has been allocated one dispensary, state records show.

Suburban Cook County has been allocated 11 dispensaries. In all, 
there will be 60 dispensaries allowed to open around the state.

Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner for the city's Department of 
Planning and Development, said the proposed rules are under review.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 
which issued the proposed rules, is accepting public comments before 
submitting the rules for official review.

"These are draft rules and we look forward to getting input from 
everyone who has an interest in them," department spokeswoman Susan Hofer said.

Burke, with the support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has championed an 
ordinance that would limit marijuana grow facilities and dispensaries 
to manufacturing districts. It also would require the business owners 
to obtain special use permits that would trigger a public hearing 
before the city's Zoning Board of Appeals where area residents could 
object, identify the owners and scrutinize their backgrounds.

Ald. Pat O'Connor (40th), the mayor's City Council floor leader, said 
the new state regulations "make finding sites for these place more difficult."

But he also said, "The city has to comply with the law. I assume 
we'll find a way to be in compliance," possibly by "establishing a 
community process to allow or not allow these facilities."

City officials said clarification is needed on how to implement the 
rule requiring dispensaries to be located throughout the city while 
also abiding by the limits on where they can be located.

Ald. Danny Solis (25th), chairman of the City Council's Zoning 
Committee, said he has to understand the details of the new rules 
before proceeding.

But he acknowledged marijuana dispensaries need to be accessible to 
seriously ill patients who need them.

"I had experience with my mom's passing where, frankly, that would 
have been something we would have wanted for her if it would have 
helped with her pain in the last days of her life," Solis said.

That sentiment is akin to what officials should be considering when 
looking at the issue, said Chris Lindsey, legislative analyst for the 
Marijuana Policy Project.

"The focus has to be on the people this bill was designed for and 
that's the seriously ill patient," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom