Letter: Why a dispensary should not open here

In an Aug. 9 article, the village of Richmond is considering allowing a recreational cannabis dispensary in town. Village President Toni Wardanian is quoted: “That subdivision, there’s people in there that don’t want a dispensary at all.” She has not spoken to us to be able to make that statement.

I am a resident of the subdivision. The residents that I have spoken with are not against a cannabis dispensary being opened. We are, however, against it being opened at the entrance to our subdivision for safety reasons. We would be opposed to any business that increases traffic on our neighborhood. There is one entrance/exit to our subdivision, near the intersection of Route 12 and Burlington Road. We have school buses that use that road at least four times a day. Our children must walk on the road in this area as the village will not install sidewalks. The intersection has traffic from three roads merging onto one. We are located right near the Wisconsin border, so we will have Wisconsin residents driving south to purchase from this proposed dispensary. Crash data from IDOT for Burlington Road and Route 12 shows four to eight accidents a year at this intersection, other than during COVID-19.

As you drive through our “Village of Yesteryear,” most of the businesses that you see are tobacco shops and gaming venues. The businesses located downtown itself do a great job of trying to build the village and retain the community feel, but the Village Board does not seem to want the same.

Abigail Quentrall-Quezada

Richmond