May 10, 2025
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Oswego Village Board OKs second cannabis dispensary; this one off Douglas Road near Route 34

By David Petesch
Products for sale at the Ivy Hall Crystal Lake, a social equity-licensed cannabis dispensary that recently opened at 501 Pingree Road in Crystal Lake, on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.

FILE PHOTO: Products for sale at the Ivy Hall Crystal Lake, a social equity-licensed cannabis dispensary that recently opened at 501 Pingree Road in Crystal Lake, on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver - gshaver@shawmed)

OSWEGO – The Oswego Village Board approved a second permit for a cannabis dispensary and increased the required buffer distance between dispensaries during a meeting March 7.

After approving village’s first dispensary in December, petitioner Blounts & Moore LLC was awarded the second special use permit to operate a cannabis dispensing facility within the village in a split 4-2 vote. Trustees Kit Kuhrt and Brian Thomas voted no.

The yet-to-be-named cannabis dispensary will occupy a former chiropractor’s office in the Mason Square shopping center at 1144 Douglas Road near Route 34. The former storefront office currently sits vacant at the southern end of the building, north of Domino’s Pizza.

On Dec. 13, the Village Board granted Cloud 9 Dispensary the first special use permit for a dispensary in the village, to operate out of a former fast food restaurant at 2420 Route 30 in the Townes Crossing shopping center east of Douglas Road, just over one mile from the proposed Blounts & Moore site.

Location map of recently approved Oswego dispensaries and one mile buffer zone. The green star represents Cloud 9 Dispensary, and the blue star represents the dispensary owned by Blounts & Moore, LLC.

Location map of recently approved Oswego dispensaries and one mile buffer zone. The green star represents Cloud 9 Dispensary, and the blue star represents the dispensary owned by Blounts & Moore, LLC. (Illustration provided by the village of Oswego) (Photo Provided by the Village of Oswego)

Vincent Field represented Blounts & Moore, LLC before the Village Board.

Kuhrt asked Field how many people would be allowed inside the dispensary and how they would keep lines from forming outside the building.

Field told the board that their company policy limits the number of customers on the sales floor to three times the number of staff on the floor, which will vary from five to seven.

To minimize lines, Field said they plan to use a different business model than other dispensaries, with sales staff on the floor helping customers before they get in the checkout line. He said they will also have a large lobby and check in area, so customers will not wait outside.

The proposed hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

When the permit request was first reviewed at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Feb. 9, a representative from Oswego SD308, John Petzke, told the commission that the district owns a facility within 250 feet of the proposed dispensary site.

Petzke said the facility is operated by district personnel, and students do not use the facility. Staff recommended approval of the special use permit, and in a memo, said it will be compatible with the surrounding commercial uses in the area.

Also at the March 7 meeting, the Village Board voted to increase the required distance between cannabis dispensing facilities within the village.

Illinois state regulations prohibit cannabis dispensaries from operating within 1,500 feet of each other. The Village Board approved an amendment to the zoning ordinance that increases that buffer’s radius to one mile or 5,280 feet.

Village Attorney Karl Ottosen added that the owners of each cannabis dispensing facility were in favor of the amendment, and that other communities have enacted the same measures.

The amendment was approved in an 5-0 vote. Thomas abstained from voting.