Mount Prospect trustees schedule public hearing on recreational pot sales

Mount Prospect trustees will hold a public hearing Dec. 1 on possible amendments to the village's zoning code that would allow the sale of recreational marijuana in town.

The hearing comes after nearly two-thirds of village voters said through an advisory referendum Nov. 3 that Mount Prospect should overturn its ban on recreational pot sales.

Mayor Arlene Juracek said the village board will lead the hearing, since the needed zoning changes already have been approved by the village's planning and zoning commission. Those changes were rejected by the village board, however.

During Tuesday's board meeting, Juracek read a letter from resident Carol Neufeldt, who urged the board to "please be cautious and think about serious consequences."

"Do we need that tax revenue source so badly that we jeopardize the future of our young people by saying that this is acceptable, directly opposite to our teaching 'Say no to drugs.' 'Do the right thing' and 'Keep this out of Mount Prospect?'" Neufeldt wrote.

Juracek also read comments from former trustee Steven Polit, who suggested village use tax revenue generated from pot sales to lower property taxes,

"(It would be a) truly be a fair and equitable means of distributing the cannabis revenue, benefiting every resident, business and commercial taxpayer in an amount equal to their portion of the total (property value) of the village," he wrote.

"I can confidently state revenue from cannabis sales were without a doubt the driving force motivating voters for support and passage," Polit added. "The reduction of real estate taxes is on the tip of everyone's tongue that voted for referendum passage."