Plans to locate a cannabis dispensary in the former Broken Chimney building at 618 Tenney St. advanced Wednesday, as the Planning Commission voted to approve the venture.
The commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the City Council grant a special use permit allowing the dispensary. Commission members Kim Sellers, Nathan Smith, Dan Kuffel, Clara Hemphill, Matt Costenson and Jill Milroy voted to approve the permit. Member Joel Hasse voted “no.”
A group called HVN Capital Inc. wants to establish the dispensary. Representing the group were Chad Anderson of rural Kewanee and Dr. Sayed Shah of Bettendorf, Iowa.
Anderson said HVN Capital is a group of investors, most of whom live “within 10 miles of Kewanee.” He explained that since marijuana is still illegal under federal law, banks can’t lend money for cannabis operations, and private investments must be used.
Anderson and Shah went to great lengths explaining the security that is required at cannabis dispensaries. Anderson said that before walking out the door with a cannabis product, a customer would have to show an ID three times.
A limited number of people can be in the room where the products are on display at one time. Any other customers would have wait in an adjoining room before being admitted.
Anyone working in the facility would have to undergo a background check and take extensive training.
Anderson and Shah said state regulations covering cannabis dispensaries are so strict that authorities in most municipalities where the dispensaries exist don’t see the need to impose local restrictions.
Violations of state regulations could lead to the facility losing its state license, they said.
In voicing his objection to the special use permit, Hasse said he had contacted officials in several communities that have cannabis facilities, and one of the chief problems is traffic congestion in the area of the facilities.
That could be a particular problem at 618 Tenney, he said, since that location is on a curve in Tenney Street and getting in and out of the parking lot can be a challenge at times.
Three people in the audience spoke against the dispensary.
Jack Hagemen, a retired Illinois State Police official who lives in Kewanee, said he had extensive contact with drug offenders while being the commander of an anti-crime task force in the department.
Every one of the people he spoke with who had been involved in the drug trade started out by using marijuana, Hagemen said.
“I’ve seen the devastation to the individual, to the families and to the community,” he said.
He said he learned by checking state records that HVN Capital has a conditional license for the dispensary, which is good for 180 days. The company will still have to apply for a permanent license.
Hagemen urged the commission to follow the advice of an anti-drug message popularized by First Lady Nancy Reagan: “Just Say No.”
Stacy Brown of Bridgeway noted that the dispensary property borders the property of the Bridgeway location on East College Street.
She said she didn’t oppose the idea of a cannabis dispensary in general. But many of Bridgeway’s clients have substance-abuse issues, she said, and the proximity of a cannabis dispensary to the facility could be a problem for them.
The location of the dispensary was also an issue for Dr. Andrew Brooks, Wethersfield school superintendent.
Wethersfield schools are about 300 feet from the dispensary location, Brooks said, just outside the 250-foot limit set in a city ordinance.
Brooks said he fears that customers from the dispensary might walk past the schools, or that students who leave campus for lunch might come in contact with it.
“We might have to close open lunch” if the dispensary opens on Tenney Street, Brooks said.
Another Kewanee resident, Mike Mulcahey, said he uses medical marijuana to ease the pain of on-the-job injuries he sustained. He asked if medical marijuana would be available at the Kewanee dispensary, and Anderson and Shah said it would not, at least at first.
The commission’s recommendation will be on the agenda at the May 13 meeting of the City Council, which has the final say on approving the special use permit.
Anderson said if the council approves, the dispensary could be ready to open by the end of summer.
