Palatine council approves town's first recreational pot shop

Plans for Palatine's first recreational marijuana shop cleared a final hurdle Monday, when the village council approved the opening of Bloc on the town's north side.

Justice Cannabis will operate the dispensary on a vacant lot east of 325 E. Lake-Cook Road. In addition to approving the business, the council approved changes to village code that will allow the shop to operate without a separate medical license.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the village staff is comfortable not requiring the medical license because the state has done "an incredible job of vetting the medicinal license holders" and is "using the exact same process" for recreational dispensaries.

Council members Kollin Kozlowski and Tim Millar voted against the plan.

Millar called the location ideal but said "there is such a strong probability of negative health effects for people under 25 or 26."

Kozlowski said he could not support a recreational-only dispensary.

The dispensary will operate in a 3,500-sqaure-foot building east of Starbucks, near the Patrick Hyundai dealership.

Its opening date is uncertain due to a pending legal matter, representatives said. The attorney for the petitioner, Craig Krandel, said it has a conditional license through the state, but there is ongoing litigation related to the final issue of the licenses.

"All the ones that received a conditional license, including my client, all will get their licenses," Krandel said

"Hopefully within the next 90 to 120 days, all this stuff will be resolved," he said, adding that the goal is to be ready to open once the license issue is settled.