Naperville set to review details of recreational marijuana sales ban
Naperville officials are ready to review an ordinance to prohibit sales of recreational marijuana after the city council last month took an early vote to implement a ban.
The ordinance is based on a model prepared by the Illinois Municipal League that could provide consistency statewide - if all communities that opt out of recreational sales under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act adopt it, according to a memo from city attorney Mike DiSanto and top staff members in the clerk's office and the transportation, engineering and development department.
The proposed ban on recreational marijuana businesses is scheduled for a first reading during the council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Naperville Municipal Center at 400 S. Eagle St. Ordinances typically go through two readings before a vote.
If approved, the new Naperville ordinance would prohibit all cannabis-related businesses, other than those operating under the state's medical cannabis law.
3C Compassionate Care Center, a medical marijuana dispensary on Quincy Avenue, would be allowed to continue its medical operation, but would not be permitted to sell the drug for recreational use at its Naperville shop or any other site in town.
Any potential cultivation centers, craft growers, processing organizations or transporting organizations operating under the recreational law also would be prohibited from opening in Naperville, "so that the city may maintain maximum legislative oversight," the staff memo says.
Consideration of local legislation to keep out all recreational marijuana businesses comes after the city council voted 5-4 on July 2 to move in the direction of a ban.
If council members reject the ordinance, they instead will need to approve a zoning code update to create requirements for where recreational marijuana businesses could locate and the hours they could operate, the staff memo said. Without a ban on the books, the council also could enact a cap on how many dispensaries would be allowed in town.
In a separate step to prepare for the beginning of legal cannabis use and possession by adults 21 and older, city staff members are writing code updates to repeal ordinances that prohibit these actions. They also are drafting new ordinances to allow local enforcement of possession and public consumption rules consistent with the new state law.
These ordinances will be reviewed during a later meeting before Jan. 1.