Schaumburg board might vote on 2nd pot shop Tuesday

Schaumburg trustees Tuesday will consider approving what would be the second recreational marijuana dispensary among the maximum of five they decided last year the village might allow.

Chicago-based Revolution Global is seeking permission to open a dispensary named Enlightened in the 9,120-square-foot building formerly occupied by Luna Flooring Gallery at 820 E. Golf Road, just east of Red Lobster.

The company already operates the New Age Care medical marijuana dispensary in Mount Prospect and a state-of-the art cultivation center in Delavan, near the center of Illinois, a spokesman said.

Though Revolution Global hopes to open by the end of the year, the time frame is entirely dependent on its licensing from the state and obtaining of local building permits.

Schaumburg Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said the proposal meets all requirements, including in its security protocols and distance from schools, day care centers, places of worship and other dispensaries.

The zoning board of appeals recommended approval by a 6-1 vote earlier this month.

This is the third proposal for a recreational marijuana dispensary the zoning board has heard. The request for one to locate in the current Bar Louie restaurant building at the southeast corner of Golf and Meacham roads was withdrawn before it reached the village board due to concerns about the rezoning it would have required.

Also, under state law it would have been too close to the village's first approved dispensary, Sunnyside, at 1739 E. Golf Road in the Woodfield Gatherings outlot development north of Woodfield Mall.

But zoning board member Patrick Riley, who cast the dissenting vote on the recommendation of Enlightened Cannabis for People, said he was concerned that all the dispensary proposals that have come to Schaumburg so far are gravitating to Golf Road and moving gradually westward.

Fellow zoning board member James Dolbeare echoed that concern, saying he didn't believe dispensaries to be the kind of business in need of the high visibility Golf Road offers.

But Fitzgerald said the village staff has been given no direction to modify the rules that were approved last year regarding the location of pot dispensaries in Schaumburg.

Global Revolution CEO Mark de Souza expressed his gratitude for the work Schaumburg officials have put into reviewing his company's proposal.

"We look forward to bringing our high-quality, responsibly grown products to Schaumburg and to working with the community in the years ahead," he said.