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Mayor: Carpentersville likely to discourage pot growers

More than two months after Carpentersville officials postponed approving medical marijuana regulations, the village board is once again scheduled to consider an amended ordinance Tuesday.

“It will pass, but it will be restrictive, and we most likely will not get any medical marijuana facilities, either growing or distributing,” Village President Ed Ritter said, adding that two groups have approached the village to set up medical marijuana enterprises. “We didn't want to be leaders in this.”

The proposed ordinance requires operators to seek a special-use permit before opening medical marijuana dispensaries or cultivation centers in the village.

It also would limit those facilities to the village's industrial areas.

In doing so, the ordinance replicates state law by barring medical marijuana dispensaries from being within 1,000 feet of a school, day care or child care facility. Dispensaries also could not operate within a dwelling unit or residential areas.

As for cultivation centers, they'd need to be more than 2,500 feet away from schools, child care facilities and residential areas. Given those guidelines, a village attorney has said it's unlikely a cultivation center could move to Carpentersville.

The village's existing code does not identify uses for cultivation centers and dispensaries or their operations, and the proposed law addresses those functions as well.

In April, the board was due to vote on an ordinance that would govern medical marijuana cultivation centers and dispensaries, but several trustees balked.

At the time, trustees Ginger Stevens and Pat Schultz said they didn't have enough information to make an informed decision and wanted to do more research. Senior trustee Paul Humpfer tried to cut off the discussion before it even started, and trustee Kay Teeter was concerned the facilities could damage the village's reputation.

Ritter, meanwhile, didn't have a problem with medical marijuana but recognizes his is the minority opinion.

“I represent the community, and the majority of the board thinks it's not a good thing,” he said, “so I will stand with the rest of the board.”

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