Zoning commission denies proposed cannabis dispensary location

Jun. 1—DANVILLE — The Danville Area Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday night recommended denying a special-use permit for a third cannabis dispensary in Danville.

The commission voted 4-0 against it, with commissioners Troy Savalick and Aaron Troglia absent. Those voting against it were Pete Goodwin, Michael Hall, Tammy Wilson and Adam Brown.

Commission Chairman Pete Goodwin said he voted against it because the city has not opened up other possible locations for where a cannabis dispensary could locate. He thinks it would be oversaturation in the Lynch Road corridor. That area already has Sunnyside dispensary and the planned Seven Point dispensary across the road at 380 Eastgate Drive near the Econo Lodge. It's set to start construction next month.

The Danville City Council, needing a super majority vote to override the zoning commission's recommendation, will act on the permit on June 20.

MariWorks, LLC of Chicago is requesting the special-use permit to operate an adult-use cannabis dispensary at 500 Eastgate Drive. The vacant land is around the curve, on the south side of Danville Metal Stamping. The land is where there was a previous modular home business site near Interstate 74.

Laura Jaramillo Bernal, one of the owners of the social equity license for a cannabis dispensary in Vermilion County and who works with nuEra, said they wouldn't need the entire 7-acre site and would work with Casey's Truck Stop which already had been looking at that Interstate 74 area to build. The development could include a restaurant.

The 7 acres of land is in the B3 general commercial business zoning district.

City Engineer Sam Cole said the city envisions the vacant land being developed at some point there, bringing more traffic and revenue with it, and being a sign of progress in that area.

For development to occur at the location, the public sanitary line must be extended from the north to the projected development. Improvements to site drainage likely will be required.

Jaramillo Bernal said they would be partnering with nuEra for the dispensary. The proposed nuEra Danville site would join other locations already in Champaign, Urbana, Chicago, Aurora, East Peoria and Pekin.

The cannabis dispensary is similar to a CVS, where it is a clean, modern retail service, but would have a security guard and alarms too, where people can get in and out quickly with orders, she said.

She said majority owner of MariWorks is Charles Williams, an African-American veteran who worked for the city of Chicago, working 30 years with the police department.

She said he has 51 percent ownership, and with her being Columbian, they have about 70 percent of the minority ownership of MariWorks.

A third partner is Patrick Brady, a lawyer. Jaramilla Bernal said she's worked in the cannabis industry with nuEra for about five years.

MariWorks would work with nuEra to run the dispensary under its well-known familiy-owned Illinois brand and a licensing agreement for capital and support. Jaramillo Bernal said this would allow the dispensary to hit the ground running right away.

They've been looking for a location for this Vermilion County-specified license for about a year. She said Danville and Tilton are the two largest areas to locate in.

"We feel this is absolutely the ideal location," she said, adding that this property has great visibility, has sufficient land and would be accessible to highway traffic and those coming from Indiana and elsewhere.

"From a business point of view, we like working with the city of Danville," she said.

This location too is good for the city because it's not near a lot of residences, they wouldn't disrupt nearby businesses or create traffic issues, the dispensary would bring in a lot of full-time jobs and it would keep revenue in Danville, she said.

The building would be about 5,000 square feet and take up two of the seven acres of land.

She said they've had conversations with a developer for a medium-scale truck stop that would bring in additional growth and revenue to the city.

The commission also heard opposition to the proposed MariWorks dispensary from Vanessa Dotson, a Seven Point dispensary owner.

She said if MariWorks doesn't find a Vermilion County location, the state will reassign the license elsewhere. She said Lynch Road doesn't need another one.

Local Pastor U. Pete Williams of Danville also voiced his oversaturation concerns, and asked why doesn't the city bring in more restaurants. The city can recruit and better plan, he said.

Resident Vince Koers voiced his concerns and said he'd like to see dispensary owners from Vermilion County.

Commissioner Brown said he believes businesses should be able to go where they want to, as fast food restaurants, car washes and other similar businesses locate close to each other.

Jaramillo Bernal said the area Danville allows for cannabis dispensaries is limited. They've looked up and down the corridor and heard from city staff that a location closer to the casino was not ideal.

Goodwin said there's a big concern having three so close.

Jaramillo Bernal said the dispensaries would divvy up the pie of revenue the city would receive. There wouldn't be double or triple the customers, and revenue, expected with mulitple dispensaries, she added.

She said the city could keep three-fourths of the pie of revenue having three of the four dispensary licenses for Vermilion County in Danville.

She also said Tilton's Parkway Dispensary location is going to get a lot of traffic and be competition. Danville revenue will be affected if any dispensary goes elsewhere, she said, adding that overall sales would go up with more availability.

Lobbyist Frank McNeil of Springfield, hired by Seven Point, and Seven Point CEO Brad Zerman of Chicago, also spoke in opposition to the MariWorks special-use permit.

Zerman said city officials don't have to feel bad it they kick nuEra out of Danville.

He said the dispensary will dilute the cannabis business in that part of Danville, and people in Danville will probably go to Tilton's dispensary.

Bob Fitzsimmons, chairman of nuEra, said they focus on the medical part of the business and have more cancer patients go to nuEra than other dispensaries in Illinois.

"This is a different business. It's not going to take 20 months. We didn't choose Lynch Road, but we understand why the city did," he said.

Danville Metal Stamping, across Jones Road from the proposed dispensary, also is in opposition of the dispensary's special-use permit request due to traffic and safety concerns, and asked that it be denied.