Bartlett has no marijuana dispensaries. It could soon have two at the same intersection

After going years without a recreational marijuana dispensary, the village of Bartlett could get two of them at the same intersection.

Bartlett trustees are expected to vote Sept. 1 on whether to allow the village’s first pot dispensary at the northeast corner of Route 59 and Army Trail Road.

Just two days later, the village’s planning and zoning commission is scheduled to review a proposal for another dispensary at the southeast corner of Route 59 and Army Trail.

If built, the dispensaries would be less than 1,500 feet apart. Typically, the state doesn’t issue licenses to recreational marijuana businesses that close to each other, according to Kurt Asprooth, Bartlett’s village attorney. The state usually licenses the dispensary that successfully applies first, he said.

However, Asprooth added, there’s nothing in Bartlett’s zoning code that would prohibit two dispensaries from being across the street from one another.

Earlier this month, planning and zoning commissioners voted 7-2 to recommend the village allow Good Behavior Bartlett to open a 1,495-square-foot dispensary at 1683 S. Route 59, next to a Starbucks in the Shops at Far Hills shopping center.

Meanwhile, the owners of Mindfully Planted are seeking permission from the village to open a 2,776-square-foot dispensary inside a former CVS at 1099 Army Trail Road.

If approved, the Mindfully Planted dispensary would join two other prospective tenants on the site — a coffee shop and a Lindy’s gas station with a convenience store, quick service restaurant and video gaming area.

The redevelopment of the former CVS site is expected to be reviewed by the planning and zoning commission on Sept. 3.

Village trustees on Tuesday talked about the proposed redevelopment of the during their building and zoning committee.

Trustee Adam Hopkins, who chairs the committee, said he likes the plan. But Trustee Raymond Deyne said he has serious concerns about two pot dispensaries so close to each other, adding that he won’t support the CVS conversion project because of it.

Trustees also questioned the smaller size of the Good Behavior Bartlett dispensary.

Andrew Scott, the attorney representing Good Behavior Bartlett, said dispensaries come in all sizes and their operators choose locations where they anticipate success.

Good Behavior Bartlett and Mindfully Planted are not the first dispensaries to be proposed for Bartlett.

Last summer, the village board narrowly rejected a plan to open a dispensary in the Brewster Creek Shopping Center along Route 59, after neighbors raised concerns about how close the business would be to a day care center.

Despite voting against that proposal, Hopkins said at the time that he still hoped a dispensary would eventually open somewhere in town.

epeterson@dailyherald.com