November 12, 2024
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Craft cannabis growers could put down roots in DeKalb, if city staff have their way

Two recreational dispensaries could open by late summer in DeKalb, says city planner

By Kelsey Rettke
Marijuana, a grinder and a pipe sit on a counter Friday, July 16, 2021, at Aroma's Hookah Bar in DeKalb. Aroma's is not a dispensary, it legally allows customers bring their own marijuana to smoke after ordinance amendments were approved by the DeKalb City Council last year. Currently no marijuana dispensaries are located in DeKalb.

Shaw Local July 2021 file photo – The city of DeKalb is considering amending its municipal code to allow for adults to operate craft cannabis growing facilities in town, according to a petition up for committee consideration Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Mark Busch/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

DeKALB – The city of DeKalb is considering amending its municipal code to allow for adults to operate craft cannabis growing facilities in town, according to a petition up for committee consideration Tuesday.

The petition is put forth by city staff to amend existing marijuana codes to allow for people to apply for permits to operate cannabis craft growing businesses, according to city documents published ahead of Tuesday’s DeKalb Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. Those approved with a local permit still would need to seek state licensing, too.

The meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Yusunas Room of the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St. downtown. The meeting is held Tuesday instead of Monday to accommodate the federal holiday of Juneteenth.

Cannabis growers already are allowed to operate under Illinois law, however, DeKalb city code does not issue permits to such requests currently. Code does allow for marijuana dispensaries, and city officials have in the past been publicly vocal about their support of such initiatives.

Under Illinois law, craft cannabis growers cultivate, dry, cure and package cannabis to be sold at dispensaries. Those with a state and local craft permit are allowed to transport the crop directly to dispensaries if the dispensaries are within 15 miles of the grower, documents show.

A craft grower is allowed to share premises with a processor or a dispensary, but the grower itself is limited to 5,000-square-feet of space or, if approved by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, up to 14,000-square-feet, according to city documents.

In February, the DeKalb City Council approved a dispensary permit for 305 E. Locust St. The majority women-led business, Canndid Spirit Too LLC, already has a state permit and is expected to be open in time for Corn Fest.

The building at 305 E. Locust St. in DeKalb, is the proposed location of DeKalb County’s first medicinal and recreational marijuana dispensary.

Shaw Local file photo – The building at 305 E. Locust St. in DeKalb, is the approved location of DeKalb County’s first medicinal and recreational marijuana dispensary. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

In April 2020, the Council approved a local permit for a dispensary at 818 W. Lincoln Highway, formerly the home of Book World. Since then, NuMed Partners LLC have successfully petitioned the city to approve extensions to its operational permit as they met continued stalls at the state level to obtain Illinois licensing.

According to a June 15 community development staff report put forward by the city’s Planning Director Dan Olson, however, both dispensaries are still on track to open this year.

“Both dispensary locations are conducting remodeling work and should be open by late summer,” Olson wrote in his staff report.

In his report, Olson wrote the city of DeKalb has received inquiries “in the past asking if the city allows cannabis craft growers.”

City staff are asking for Planning and Zoning Commission approval – and also will require DeKalb City Council approval – to update city code related to types of allowable cannabis business in town. Updated parking and signage also is proposed under the code amendments, documents show.

When the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act went into effect in Illinois Jan. 1, 2020, the state allowed for craft growers, cultivation centers, dispensaries, infusers, processors and transporters.

If DeKalb approves an updated code, the city would allow for dispensaries and growers.

Once the DeKalb recreational marijuana dispensaries are open, the business will mark the first of its kind in DeKalb County.

A permit request for a cannabis craft grower in neighboring Sycamore was denied in April by the Sycamore City Council after a vote to tighten existing municipal regulations on cannabis.

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