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A marijuana dispensary has been approved to open in the village of Montgomery.
In a split, 3-2 ballot Monday evening, April 25, the Village Board approved a special use permit to allow the World of Weed, LLC to open the dispensary in the former BMO Harris Bank at 1970 Caterpillar Drive just east of Orchard Road, south of Route 30.
Board members Theresa Sperling and Matt Bauman cast the negative votes on the motion to issue the permit. Voting to approve the permit were Board members Doug Marecek, Dan Gier and Steve Jungermann. Board member Tom Betsinger was absent from the meeting.
Prior to voting, Sperling said she would cast a negative vote on the motion in part because she disagreed with the village Planning and Zoning Commission’s previous finding that the issuance of the permit would not “endanger the health, safety, comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the public.”
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything the Plan Commission has presented to us,” Sperling said.
Village President Matt Brolley said he appreciated Sperling’s opinion, but noted the Board previously voted to allow marijuana dispensaries to operate in the village if they meet the conditions for a special use permit as required under the village’s zoning ordinance.
During an April 11 meeting, Sonya Abt, the village’s community development director, told the Board the developer’s permit request met all of the standards for marijuana dispensaries in the village’s zoning ordinance.
Abt said there would be no on-site consumption of marijuana and security measures, including interior and exterior cameras, would be installed.
The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on the permit request April 7 and then voted, 6-0, to approve a advisory recommendation in support of the permit request.
No village residents attended the hearing to speak either in favor or in opposition to the permit request.
In their application for the permit, the developers noted the former 4,400 square foot bank building is “well suited for dispensary use as it already has some security infrastructure already in place.”
The application continues: “The point of customer entry/exit will be via a secured entry on the south side of the building. Customers will wait in a waiting area until they enter a sale floor which is segregated and secured from the back of the house, which is where a vault, product storage area, and employee breakroom are located. No cannabis product will be visible from outside of the building.”
The proposed hours of operation for the dispensary are from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.
The developers do not plan to make significant changes to the exterior of the building.
The application adds, “The bulk of the changes will be made to the interior of the building. Further, while the drive-through lanes will remain, the applicant does not intend to utilize them as state law does not permit ‘drive through’ sales of cannabis.”
Abt said that in their review of the permit request that Oswego Fire Protection District officials recommended that the developers not be allowed to use the former bank drive-thru lanes either as a parking or storage area.
The dispensary will be the first of its kind to locate in the village and Kendall County. Currently the nearest dispensaries are in Aurora, Naperville and North Aurora.