'Curious to see if Danville can support' 3 close-by dispensaries
'The people who've received those licenses have gone through a very arduous process with the state, so if they can pass that rigorous process, from my perspective, they're good to
DANVILLE — A third cannabis dispensary could be coming to Danville's Lynch Road area.Danville's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the approval of a special-use permit for Parkway Dispensary LLC, owned by The 1937 Group, a Chicago-based, minority-owned cannabis company.If the special-use permit is approved by council next week, Parkway's adult-use dispensary would be built just two parcels north of an existing dispensary — Sunnyside, which opened in 2020. A third dispensary, Seven Point of Illinois, was approved by the city in November 2021 but is yet to break ground at 388 Eastgate Drive across Lynch Road.Ward 4 Alderwoman Tricia Teague plans to support the permit at Tuesday's council meeting.'The people who've received those licenses have gone through a very arduous process with the state, so if they can pass that rigorous process, from my perspective, they're good to go,' Teague said Tuesday.'From a business perspective, I'm curious to see if Danville can support this many (dispensaries).'Parkway and Seven Point dispensaries were social equity applicants for conditional adult-use cannabis licenses. Both were awarded licenses to operate in Danville from the state's lottery last summer.Danville has long vied for new businesses along its eastern edge.
The Golden Nugget Casino is one such project, set to open this spring. Parkway Dispensary could open as soon as July, developers told the planning and zoning commission last week. Seven Point is entering the final week of an investment campaign to support its opening.According to Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk, no one has filed a complaint against the petition for Parkway's special-use permit.Generally, Illinois law prohibits new dispensaries from operating within 1,500 feet of each other.
But exceptions exist for businesses that have applied for licenses through the social equity program.Danville's zoning commission recommended the city amend its ordinance preventing two social equity-based licensees from locating within 1,500 feet of one another.Teague is CEO of The Trep School, a consulting business which operates a state-supported clinic for social equity applicants in the cannabis industry, called CannaTrep.From a business perspective, the Lynch Road location 'makes sense' to Teague. 'It's close to the (Indiana) border, and probably the best place for them to be located from an ease-of-access perspective. And in terms of citizens' concerns, it's on the edge of town,' she said.'I'm wondering what the volume of customers might be to support that many locations in a city that doesn't necessarily have that large of a population.'