Schaumburg panel recommends rules for recreational marijuana sales

Schaumburg, the second-largest hub of economic activity in Illinois, is zeroing in on how it will handle the new industry of recreational marijuana beginning Jan. 1.

With member James Dolbeare absent, the village's zoning board of appeals voted 5-0 Wednesday to recommend a number of regulations, including limiting the number of dispensaries to five on properties zoned for retail.

The zoning board also recommended further restrictions be added to the draft proposal, including increasing the minimum distance of such businesses from schools and day care centers to 1,500 feet to match the required setback between dispensaries. Religious houses of worship also joined the list of buildings for which this minimum distance might apply.

Zoning board member Pat Riley was the first to criticize the fact that the originally drafted setback of 1,000 feet from schools and day care centers was less than that separating one dispensary from another.

"It's just really, truly bad optics," he said of that disparity.

Other newly recommended regulations include limiting the size of dispensaries to 10,000 square feet, and the number of cultivation centers and other industrial marijuana businesses confined to the village's manufacturing districts at five.

Village trustees themselves drafted their preferences into the proposed law during two meetings earlier this fall before sending it on to the zoning board for review and a public hearing.

None of the nine audience members spoke Wednesday.

The recommended ordinance will return to trustees for final approval at their meeting of Dec. 10, three weeks before the nonpublic use of recreational marijuana by people over the age of 21 becomes legal in Illinois.

Though municipalities cannot ban such use, they do have the right either to deny marijuana sales within their borders or to set whatever zoning rules they believe are appropriate for such businesses.

Schaumburg trustees have already exercised their right to impose the maximum 3% local tax on marijuana sales.