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Elgin commission says no to medical marijuana

The saga of an application to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Elgin continued to play out at a commission meeting Monday night, but the Elgin City Council will have ultimate say on Wednesday.

Salveo Health & Wellness of Chicago wants to open the dispensary at unit 215 of 1330 Crispin Drive in the Fox Bluff Corporate Center, a plan opposed by other business owners in the complex.

After listening to nearly six hours of testimony, the city's planning and zoning commission voted 3-1 to recommend denial of Salveo's application. Commission Chairman Bob Siljestrom cast the only dissenting vote.

Jon DeSouza, president and CEO of Harting North America nearby on Bowes Road, said he believes the dispensary will endanger his employees and the general public.

Salveo CEO Alex R. Thiersch has argued in the past that crime rates have been shown to decrease near dispensaries because of their extensive security measures.

The city council, after preliminarily approving the application, decided Sept. 10 to send it back to the commission. Fox Bluff business argued commissioners denied them due process at an Aug. 4 public hearing, when commissioners gave their thumbs-up to the application.

Attorney Charles Muscarello, who represents the Fox Bluff businesses, presented a security expert, Laurence Mulcrone, who said Salveo does not have an adequate security plan.

Thiersch said Mulcrone only examined the succinct security plan Salveo submitted in July.

The plan, which includes camera surveillance, was approved by the Elgin Police Department.

The security plan submitted in September by Salveo as part of its state application is much more detailed, Thiersch said. Fourteen applicants are vying for two state licenses in Kane County.

Mulcrone also said he was "troubled" by the inclusion of armed guards in the plan. None of the dispensary security plans he's worked included armed guards, but cultivation centers did, he said.

"Do you really want to have guns where patients are coming and going?" he said, adding police should be in charge of any armed response.

Muscarello argued the dispensary's application doesn't meet Elgin's requirement to be 1,000 feet from residential areas.

The city's ordinance doesn't specify how to measure that distance, which Muscarello said should be measured property line to property line.

Attorney Peter Bazos, who represents Thiersch, argued that for properties with multiple units, the distance should be measured from each unit. That would allow the dispensary to meet the minimum distance.

Commissioners voted 4-0 to recommend the distance be measured from each property line.

"When we said 1,000 feet, we set our own standard," Commissioner Anthony Pedote said. "We meant property line to property line."

Community Development Director Marc Mylott said the dispensary's application met "the intent" of city regulations approved in February. Still, "I can see where you can argue that it might not," he said.

Muscarello also argued a nearby detention pond violates distance requirements regarding open areas.

Commissioners, however, voted to recommend that open areas specifically be intended as those frequented and enjoyed by the public.

Thiersch said he considered giving up on opening the Elgin dispensary after the city council remanded the issue to the commission.

"I've invested so much time and money into this project to get this done in Elgin," he said.

"This license is worth $100,000 of my retirement that I put into it. I have a significant amount of interest to make sure this works - that it's professional and it's discreet."

Fox Bluff business owners reportedly have said they will file a lawsuit against the city if the council approves zoning for the dispensary.

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