It’s been a slow process with an inevitable ending; pot stores (three) will be in family-friendly Naperville. Based on a non-binding referendum, that means about half (52%) the good folks of Naperville are happy, and the almost-other half (48%) are not quite so happy. As my ten-year old grandson would say, ‘that’s how life works’, not referring to cannibis, but more-so to baseball, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
There will be some resistance from a few council members (Gustin, Hinterlong, and Coyne) and from up to 48% of the residents, to no avail. If there is money to be made by the City from pot stores (3%), it was guaranteed to happen. The resistance will come in the form of trying to prolong the process, by requiring a conditional use permit, which would necessitate each application to appear before the City Council for approval, supposedly creating more transparency. Chances of that getting approval from the council are about 6 to 3, or 5 to 4 against it happening. But if it does, it will simply be a speedbump.
The next step is where to put the three pot shops. This is where NIMBY (not in my back yard) comes in play. This is where the fun starts. 52% want the stores, and 100% don’t want them near their abode. This is also where a dictatorship would be more efficient. Simply pick three locations and put them there.
With that in mind, Watchdog would like to recommend any three of the following locations which would be easy to remember:
- Green Acres Drive
- High Point Drive
- Lazy Hallow Court
- Look Out Court
- Mary Lane
- Milkweed Drive
- Redbud Drive
- Rolling Grove Court
- Wehrli Road
With my favorite:
- 420 Weed Street
Yes, I know there is no ‘Weed Street’ in Naperville yet, but this makes a great reason to have one.
Can I get an Amen!
How about the basement, first floor and second floor of city hall where these jerks can feel the full force of the crazy people buying this junk?
It is well know that the first one will be the current medical dispensary. The operators of this dispensary have stated from the start they want to make this dispensary dual use (medical and adult). They were also one of the first operators given an adult dispensary license by the state over a year ago.
There has only been one other operator express an interest in having an adult dispensary in Naperville. They have not been committed enough to indicate were they might like to locate their dispensary.
We may never see the third dispensary happen. There are several state regulations that limit how many dispensaries can be located in our established district and most of those will be use up by the time Naperville gets these two operating.
Operators are further restricted by the statue (Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act – CRTA) to having not more the 10 dispensaries in the state.
These restrictions mean operators have to give careful thought to were they located their operations to maximize revenue. Too close to another dispensary or in a market already at saturation level means competing with other dispensaries for business. This would mean increased costs with diminishing returns, not a good market to enter, as any business person will tell you.
The only real reason the two mentioned council members are against these dispensaries is political. They want to delay the conversation of legal adult use into the November elections because they believe it will provide good fodder for distracting voters from the real issues that are impacting things like our property taxes.