Oswego Outlines Proposed Legal Pot Laws

OSWEGO, IL — As the legalization of recreational marijuana looms, Village of Oswego officials have outlined local laws surrounding the new industry. The recommendations from village staff —including banning smoking lounges and requiring dispensaries to gain a special use permit — will be taken up by the Village Board in November.

Illinois' new recreational marijuana law will allow the sale of pot beginning Jan. 1. The law gives municipalities the power to opt out of allowing the sale of recreational marijuana within its borders, a measure many areas across the state are now considering.

Oswego began discussing the issue in September, when the Village Board requested that a public forum be held on the issue. That forum was held Oct. 10, when village staff offered a series of recommendations surrounding the cultivation and selling of marijuana in town — if the village decides to allow local marijuana sales.

Among the recommendations is the banning of marijuana smoking lounges, banning at-home deliveries and requiring dispensaries to go through a special permitting process. Village staff also asked the board to set a maximum number of growing and dispensary licenses.

Under the proposals, both dispensaries and growing facilities will require a special use permit, which requires that each new facility be approved by the Village Board, instead of being able to exist by-right in the correct zoning designation. Marijuana growing and cultivation centers will be limited to manufacturing-zoned areas.

Dispensaries will be limited to community shopping and community service/wholesale district. That includes downtown, but village staff has told the Village Board that it could ban dispensaries from inhabiting inside the downtown tax increment financing district, which covers all of downtown.

Drive-through windows at dispensaries, marijuana vending machines, and sales placed by call or online would be banned under the proposals. Dispensaries cannot locate within 100 feet of schools and parks, among other facilities.

The Village Board will consider the proposals on Nov. 19, Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said.

A survey conducted by the Village of Oswego in August showed that 73 percent of residents support allowing growing facilities to open in town, while 60 percent support OK-ing smoking cafes and lounges, according to the village.

Neighboring municipalities like Bolingbrook, Plainfield and Naperville have opted out of the state's new marijuana law. Joliet, meanwhile, will have one of the first recreational dispensaries.