New adult-use marijuana dispensary set to open in Lake in the Hills

A new marijuana dispensary is set to open March 31 in Lake in the Hills along the busy Randall Road corridor at the former site of Chen Chinese Cuisine.

The dispensary, 270 Randall Road, will be called Rise Lake in the Hills, and the former eatery now is under renovation with the goal of beginning sales late next month, said Brendan Blume, vice president of store development for Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries.

The Lake in the Hills spot will be Green Thumb’s ninth cannabis retailer in Illinois, including two in Joliet, Blume said. The company has 52 outlets nationwide.

“The village of Lake in the Hills permitted, wrote an ordinance that was very business-friendly, I’d say,” Blume said. “We worked with the landlord who had the space and was open to our use. We always like when the town is open and the community is open and [there is] a friendly landlord.”

The village amended its zoning to allow cannabis in some areas months before Green Thumb made its proposal, village staff said.

Lake in the Hills’ municipal codes allow cannabis businesses – including dispensaries, craft growers, cultivation centers, processing organizations and infusion organizations – to be located by right in a few of the village’s zoning districts. That means marijuana businesses do not need to go through a special permitting process or have their project approved by the Village Board.

That differs from other municipalities’ rules on newly legal marijuana retail businesses. Nearby Crystal Lake, for instance, requires special-use permits for all marijuana-related businesses.

Elected Lake in the Hills officials were advised by their attorney in 2019 about the pros and cons of permitting cannabis businesses by right, as the village code does now, versus allowing them as conditional uses, which would have given the local government greater authority on when, where and how to grant approvals for marijuana businesses.

Conditional-use applications also can trigger public hearings on a land-use proposal before local government bodies such as planning and zoning commissions and city councils.

Dispensaries in Lake in the Hills are permitted in five zones, its village code shows, including two of the village’s five business districts, both of the village’s manufacturing districts and one of the two airport districts. They cannot be closer than 300 feet to any residence, school or public park, irrespective of municipal boundaries, according to the code.

The Randall Road location is in a stand-alone building in front of a Lowe’s Home Improvement store and next to a Costco gas station. A movie theater is located across the road.

Chen Chinese Cuisine closed its Randall Road store last month, but it still is operating its Crystal Lake location.

“After 18 years of serving the area, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close our LITH location starting in early January of 2021,” Suya and Ming Chen wrote on the restaurant’s website. “The reasons for this are not related to COVID-19, as we are so grateful that you all have continued to provide incredible support to us even during the pandemic. Instead, as a family-owned restaurant, we are downsizing in an effort to slow down our lives, spend more time with family and focus on the Crystal Lake location.”

Green Thumb Industries’ Blume said the business is hiring and will employ about 25 workers.

The Rise dispensary will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Blume said.