Operators
of a downtown Springfield medical marijuana dispensary are working on opening a
second outlet within city limits.
Chris
Stone, CEO of HCI Alternatives, confirmed that the company has identified a
second Springfield site where the company hopes to sell recreational marijuana
when legal sales are allowed beginning Jan. 1. He declined to identify the site.
State
law gives existing medical marijuana dispensaries a head start in selling
recreational marijuana, with current operators allowed to open stores before new entrants are allowed. Under the law, each existing medical marijuana dispensary
can open a second outlet for recreational pot when legal sales begin, but the new
location must be within the region where the existing outlet operates. In the
case of HCI, the company could open a second store anyplace in Sangamon County.
HCI was recently acquired by Ascend Wellness, a Massachusetts-based marijuana
company that also has a deal to operate a cultivation center in Barry, a city
in Pike County.
Stone
said his company hasn’t yet closed a deal to acquire the second Springfield
site. He added that the city needs to approve an ordinance setting out rules
for dispensaries, including zoning measures stating where recreational marijuana
shops can be located. Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder could not be immediately
reached.
Stone
discounted predictions of a glut of cannabis shops in Springfield, noting that
state law caps the number of dispensaries in any given geographic region. In
the case of the Springfield area, he said, just three locations in addition to existing
medical marijuana dispensaries in Grandview and downtown will be allowed over
the next two or three years.
“It’s
not going to be wall-to-wall pot shops,” Stone said.
Dan
Linn, general manager of Maribus dispensaries, which has a shop in Grandview
and another in Chicago, said that his company also plans to open a second
location in the Springfield area and has looked at sites. “We are looking at
some in Springfield and also looking at some outside the Springfield area,” he
said. The company, he said, is looking to the city to establish zoning and
other rules for recreational sales.
“We’re
not going to sign a lease for a building and then have Springfield say there
can be just one recreational store in town,” Linn said.
Contact
Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2019.
