A second cannabis dispensary in Waukegan now has a conditional use permit to operate, a potential grower with the city’s permission to build is seeking a license from the state of Illinois and one alderman has strong feelings about how to spend the tax dollars generated.
The Waukegan City Council voted 8-1 to both give Planet 13 a conditional use permit to open a dispensary, and extend Goddess Growers’ right to grow marijuana indoors, Monday at City Hall potentially adding more than $1.2 million to the city’s revenue stream.
Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, said she hopes the revenue generated from the cannabis businesses will be used to further the social equity underpinnings of the law the Illinois General Assembly passed legalizing recreational cannabis in late 2019.
Currently operating dispensaries in Nevada and California, Planet 13 plans to open it first Illinois operation in Waukegan in a onetime former bank building at 4000 Northpoint Blvd. just north of the Fountain Square shopping center.
Frank Cowan, the majority partner of Planet 13’s Illinois subsidiary, said after the meeting the company plans to take ownership of the building this month and immediately begin work on its dispensary. He hopes to open in the second quarter of 2023 with a specific date in mind.
“I know it’s a stretch, but we’d like to open April 20 because it’s National Weed Day,” Cowan said. “I’m excited to be coming to Waukegan. It’s starting to feel like my second home.”
Less than a half-mile away from the planned Planet 13, Ivy Hall, which received a conditional use permit in January, got its building permit Nov. 29 to begin renovations to open its dispensary in the 900 block of South Waukegan Road. Cowan is not concerned about the competition.
“I know they’re half a mile away, but we have a new concept which we know customers will like,” he said last month after a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. “I don’t know the quality of their product. I know we’ll be competitive.”
While Ivy Hall is in the process of renovating a 4,600 square-foot space in a strip of businesses, according to plans it presented to the city in January, Planet 13 intends to renovate a 15,000-square-foot onetime bank building, according to its proposal to the city.
Andrew Scott, an attorney representing World of Weed, which will operate Ivy Hall, said in January the dispensary anticipated annual sales between $8 and $10 million. Cowan projects approximately $24 million in sales for Planet 13.
Hoping to provide cannabis products to Planet 13, Ivy Hall and other dispensaries in Illinois is Goddess Growers. It received a conditional use permit last year to operate a craft growing facility at 99 West Greenwood Ave.
Phoebe DePree, the founder and CEO of the Goddess Growers, said she hoped to receive a license from the state to become a craft grower. When the Illinois Department of Agriculture finally issued licenses, Goddess Growers did not get one.
“We (still) hope to get a license,” DePree said. “If we don’t, we plan to find someone with a license who will be a craft grower or an infuser (who makes products like edibles) in our building. We will be their landlord.”
Though Ald. Edith Newsome, 5th Ward, was the only vote against the dispensary and the grower, Florian pushed for an equitable use of the money the city will receive as she did in January when Ivy Hall’s permit was granted. A discussion on earmarking the funds was delayed.
“‘Social equity takes into account systemic inequality to ensure everyone in a community has access to the same opportunities and outcomes'” Florian said, quoting the original law. “‘Equity of all kinds acknowledged that inequalities exist and we should work to eliminate them.'”
Florian said, according to her research, the average income in Waukegan is approximately $54,000 annually. For white individuals, it is over $67,000, for Hispanics it is around $53,000 and for Black people in the neighborhood of $36,000. Lower income communities tend to have a higher crime rate.
“I think we as a council need to earmark the tax money from these establishments to create more fairness within our own community,” Florian said.
Mayor Ann Taylor said discussing the use of the taxes coming from the dispensary, just like the money generated to the city from the American Place casino when it opens, will take place at another time. Cowan, who is Black, said he understands Florian’s position.
“We plan on employing people directly from Waukegan,” Cowan said. “Our (hiring) should be equitable, and should be very high paying. We’re on your side on that, and we plan on helping Waukegan be a little more equitable.”
With recreational cannabis illegal in Wisconsin, Ivy Hall will be the closest Illinois dispensary to the state line, approximately 10 miles away. Scott said the proximity to Wisconsin is part of the sales projection. Other Lake County dispensaries are in Mundelein, Highwood, Highland Park, Buffalo Grove and Wauconda.
