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2013-12-18 - Plan Commission - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Plan commission Document Type: ❑A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 12/18/2013 Type of Meeting: PUBLIC HEARING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION December 18, 2013 Amendment of Village Zoning Ordinance concerning regulations For medical cannabis cultivation centers and dispensing Organizations Chairman Smith called the hearing to order at 7:30 pm in the Village Council Chambers, Buffalo Grove Municipal Building, 50 Raupp Boulevard, Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Chairman Smith read the Notice of Public Hearing as published in the Buffalo Grove Daily Herald, explained the procedure to be followed for the public hearing, and swore in all persons who wished to give testimony. Commissioners present: Chairman Smith Mr. Khan Mr. Stark Mr. Cohn Mr. Weinstein Ms. Johnson Mr. Goldspiel Mr. Matthews Commissioners absent: None Also present: Mr. Andrew Stein, Village Trustee Mr. William Raysa, Village Attorney Mr. Robert Pfeil, Village Planner The following exhibits were presented by the petitioner at the public hearing: Exhibit 1: Map of Prohibited Cultivation Locations Exhibit 2: Map of Prohibited Dispensary Locations Exhibit 3: Tressler LLP Memorandum from William Raysa and Jeffrey Stein dated December 12, 2013, as an Updated Overview of Public Act 98-0122 Exhibit 4: Memorandum from Mr. Pfeil to the Plan Commission dated December 13, 2013 Mr. Pfeil noted the state law entitled "The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act" becomes effective January 1, 2014. The law enables the development of "cultivation centers" for the production of medical marijuana and "dispensing organizations" where the product could be sold under strict licensing and regulations to be developed by the State. Mr. Pfeil noted that the Plan Commission conducted a workshop in August 2013 to discuss the basic concepts of how the Village could regulate the location of cultivation centers and dispensaries under zoning powers as a home rule municipality. The cultivation centers have a distance parameter requiring separation of at least 2,500 feet from schools, day care centers and property zoned for residential use; dispensing organizations have a 1,000 foot buffer requirement. Mr. Pfeil said the map concerning cultivation centers uses yellow to identify the locations that meet the applicable distance requirement from schools and similar uses. The only area in Buffalo Grove that is designated is the northeasterly part of the Village at the southeast corner of Aptakisic Road and Barclay Boulevard. This area is occupied by the Rogers Center for Commerce on the east side of Barclay Blvd and one other industrially zoned property to the south. Mr. Pfeil noted that the map depicting possible locations for dispensaries indicates that a number of properties with in business districts and the Office and Research district meet the 1,000 foot distance requirement from schools, day care facilities and residentially zoned property. The map uses yellow to identify the properties with Industrial zoning that meet the applicable distance parameter. This includes properties Millbrook Center south of Route 22, all of the Arbor Creek, Corporate Grove and Covington Corporate Center business parks south of Aptakisic Road extending to Deerfield Parkway, and the areas near Lake Cook Road such as the Buffalo Grove Commerce Center and some of the Chevy Chase business park. Mr. Pfeil stated that Village staff and the Village Attorney recommend that a special use should be required for either a cultivation center or a dispensing organization, and this should be limited to the Industrial District. Specific conditions of use are not recommended at this time, but each special use petition for a specific location would be evaluated to determine restrictions that would be incorporated in the ordinance allowing a special use. Mr. Pfeil noted a task force of Lake County municipalities has been working on a model ordinance that communities could use in developing zoning regulations. Buffalo Grove can evaluate the model regulations to determine if items should be added to the Village's zoning regulations. He noted that some communities in the area are considering establishment of a moratorium concerning medical cannabis facilities, but eventually zoning regulations will need to be developed. Mr. Pfeil commented that the State regulations won't be in place until fall of 2014. Petitioners would have to secure state licensing and registration before petitioning for zoning approval. He noted that if the Village acts now to establish zoning regulations, additional amendments could be made if necessary to coordinate with state regulations. Mr. Raysa noted that the statute provides for three State of Illinois departments to be involved in regulating medical cannabis: Department of Health, Department of Agriculture and Department of Financial Registration. All of these departments have a hand in drafting rules and regulations regarding medical cannabis. He pointed out that the statute allows the Department of Agriculture 120 days after January 1, 2014 in order to come forward and propose their regulations. A State department such as the Department of Health just does not enact rules and regulations. The procedure normally is that the department will propose draft rules which will go to JCAR which is the joint committee on rules in Springfield. JCAR then holds hearings on those proposed rules and only after JCAR decides that those rules are correctly set forth and are legitimate regulations then and only then are do the rules become effective. Also the cannabis and the dispensing agency can only be purchased and obtained from an Illinois cultivation center. The cultivation center also will have to get a license, be authorized by the State etc. So the fall of 2014 or even winter of 2014 will be when anything is up and running. Mr. Raysa noted that page six of his memorandum of the updated overview of Public Act 98-0122 includes discussion of zoning regulations; this material has been updated based on the Plan Commission workshop discussion in August 2013. He noted that the state allows municipalities to enact "reasonable" zoning regulations, but the state has control of all other regulations for medical cannabis. He noted that "reasonable" zoning regulation is going to be subject to interpretation. Litigation will probably be used to test this. He said he is recommending that the Plan Commission consider zoning regulations providing for a special use process to allow dispensary organizations and cultivation centers in the Industrial District. He indicated that in his opinion the special use provision would meet the standard of being "reasonable" zoning regulations. Mr. Raysa said that on page 7 of his memorandum the definition of special use as defined in Section /11-13-1.1. of the Illinois Statutes is discussed. He pointed out that the State statute describes special uses as having unique, special or unusual impacts upon the use or enjoyment of neighboring property and planned developments. Mr. Raysa stated it is his recommendation that the nature of the dispensing organizations and cultivation centers fit within the definition of special use. They are unique, special and could have an unusual impact. That is the groundwork upon which he bases his recommendation to put the two entities into the Village Zoning Ordinance as special uses. The zoning amendments would include the same definitions for cultivation center and dispensing organizations as the state statute. Mr. Raysa further pointed out that currently at Section 17.28.040 of the Village's Zoning Ordinance the criteria for special use are set forth. For the record as far as the Board's authority, a determination of when a special use meets all the criteria which are listed in sub-section A of 17.28.040 of the Buffalo Grove Municipal Code and include that the special use shall serve the public convenience, that the nature and intensity involved in connection with the operation of the special use works and will take into account the size of the subject property and that the special use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of the property in the immediate vicinity. That nature, location and size of the buildings and structures of the special use and adequate utilities, access roads and parking areas of adequate size are apparent. If an applicant comes before the Village for a dispensing organization or cultivation center and then subsequently comes before this board, this board has the right and duty to review the six requirements for a special use and to make certain that those six requirements are met. In addition the Plan Commission may recommend and the Corporate Authorities may impose such restrictions and conditions on the subject property, the location and construction and design of buildings for use of the property benefit by the special uses. The authority for special uses and the Plan Commission's right to look into the background of special uses is very prevalent not only in case law but in our own ordinances. Commissioner Cohn asked if there is a map showing locations of recreational special uses within the Industrial District. Mr. Pfeil said the Village zoning map notes special uses with an asterisk. Recreational facilities are not specifically identified. Commissioner Cohn asked if there is any place within the yellow area Industrial District where a facility would go where it would not be less than 1,000 feet from an existing type of child used facility such as Joy of the Game, etc. If you put 1,000 foot around every one of those child type facilities, would that consume the entire yellow area or are there still places that would make it. He noted the reason he asks is if the spirit of the law is nothing within 1,000 feet from child facilities and through the special use process, every time a facility comes to us that is like this and we say it must be 1000 feet from where children are we could effectively through the special use process never have an opportunity to allow a facility like that and have created an ordinance that effectively is an exclusion. Mr. Raysa stated the State statute sets up very distinct buffers that address schools and day care. The other side of the argument is if they were aware that there were recreational uses then why didn't they bring that in and regulate that. Therefore, because they did not bring it in, the Village of Buffalo Grove is stopped from regulating that area. Commissioner Cohn stated what concerns him is that the ordinance we are trying to pass by making it a special use could effectively be completely invalid because we know there is never going to meet the six criteria. If we know presumptively that we are never going to grant a special use to any of these facilities and if we know that in advance and create a law that says this is what we would expect it is the same as a prohibition and it might be invalid. He does, however, agree that a special use is the way to go but he feels we are setting ourselves up for this situation in the future. He noted he would be interested in knowing where all the recreational uses are and where potential dispensaries can be with respect to those. The other issue is if that is our view that 1000 feet is the right number then if we were to grant a special use to a dispensary we would effectively also be saying we will never authorize a special use for a recreational use at 1000 feet from such dispensary. Commissioner Weinstein stated he does not see the use for a map of the recreational uses because then we would have to look and ask which recreation use is specific to children. Unless we identified a specific user on the map as opposed to just an asterisk and what their business model is it will be very difficult to monitor that. The State having at this point just provided schools and child care facilities has set the benchmark and guideline that we can go by. He feels just recreational uses are too broad of a standard. Commissioner Matthews noted at another commission he was on they spoke about adult entertainment and he recalls you could not set up regulations or ordinances that would technically prohibit and had to have a location where that kind of entertainment could exist. Would that not also be true here? Mr. Raysa stated yes. Commissioner Matthews noted that therefore we cannot pass an ordinance that won't work. He asked if a distributor can buy marijuana from other counties. Mr. Raysa stated the product has to be produced within Illinois. Commissioner Matthews asked if someone could come in and argue that since you do not regulate other agricultural products as to where they are grown, why regulate marijuana. Mr. Raysa noted that the state is regulating these products. Municipalities have to comply with the powers granted by the state, which focus on zoning regulations, not product licensing. Commissioner Matthews asked if the federal government comes in and makes marijuana legal, how does that affect what we are discussing now. Mr. Raysa noted a paper was written in California on medical marijuana and one of the noteworthy points is that cannabis is still illegal under federal law. He said he doesn't know what the federal government may do that will affect state regulations. Commissioner Goldspiel asked what kind of operations these would be in terms of traffic and other traditional concerns of the Plan Commission. Mr. Pfeil said it may be useful to review the experience with facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington where businesses have been operating. Commissioner Weinstein responded to Commissioner Matthews that you would see either with the number of states that are continuing to pass legislation on this law there will be either a complete crackdown by the Feds where they would pre-empt all state law or they could say since all these states are passing it they are right and just give the states the right to govern it. Commissioner Cohn asked if the ability to pass an ordinance is lost if it does not do so now. Mr. Raysa stated no as there is no time limit on it. His suggestion is to get something on the books in early 2014. Chairman Smith asked what the taxing implications might be for the Village. Mr. Pfeil said he doesn't have specific knowledge about tax revenue, but some municipalities may be evaluating the potential for taxing this product and related transactions. Chairman Smith asked what the state will do as far as who will get licenses. Mr. Raysa commented that the Cook County Sheriff recently said he doesn't have the people to do the background checks for the concealed carry firearms law. If the Sheriff doesn't have enough people for firearms programs, it would appear that there may be a lack of resources to conduct background checks on the dispensing organizations and cultivation centers. Chairman Smith asked if background checks would be done on at the State level. Mr. Raysa stated yes. There being no further comments or questions from anyone else present, Chairman Smith closed the public hearing at 8:05 pm. Respectfully submitted, Fay Rubin, Recording Secretary APPROVED BY: ERIC SMITH, Chair Board or Commission: ❑ Plan commission Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 12/18/2013 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting REGULAR MEETING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION December 18, 2013 Amendment of Village Zoning Ordinance concerning regulations for Medical cannabis cultivation centers and dispensing organizations Chairman Smith called the meeting to order at 8:05 pm in the Village Council Chambers, Buffalo Grove Municipal Building, 50 Raupp Boulevard, Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Commissioners present: Chairman Smith Mr. Khan Mr. Stark Mr. Cohn Mr. Weinstein Ms. Johnson Mr. Goldspiel Mr. Matthews Commissioners absent: None Also present: Mr. Andrew Stein, Village Trustee Mr. William Raysa, Village Attorney Mr. Robert Pfeil, Village Planner APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Commissioner Khan, seconded by Commissioner Weinstein to approve the minutes of the public hearing of December 4, 2013. Commissioner Stark noted he was not listed at present at the hearing and he was present. All Commissioners were in favor of the amended motion and the motion passed unanimously with Commissioner Johnson abstaining. Moved by Commissioner Weinstein, seconded by Commissioner Khan to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 4, 2013, the motion was approved with Commissioner Johnson abstaining. COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS Commissioner Khan attended the Village Board meeting on December 16, 2013 where there was nothing for the Plan Commission. AMENDMENT OF VILLAGE ZONING ORDINANCE CONCERNING REGULATIONS FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS CULTIVATION CENTERS AND DISPENSING ORGANIZATIONS Moved by Commissioner Weinstein, seconded by Commissioner Khan to recommend approval to the Village board of the proposed amendments to the Village of Buffalo Grove Zoning Ordinance (Title 17 of the Buffalo Grove Municipal Code) concerning medical cannabis (also known as medical marijuana). The amendments pertain to siting of medical cannabis dispensaries and medical cannabis cultivation centers as defined and regulated by the state of Illinois. Commissioner Cohn stated he will vote against this motion because he does not think we are ready. He feels it is important that we identify the location of the child friendly recreational uses in the Industrial District which has consistently over the years been infiltrated with all kinds of child friendly recreational uses. He feels we should have a map that shows the location of each and every one of those child recreational facilities and then he feels we should draw a 1000 foot circle around each of them and figure out where these types of facilities can go. Without doing that basic due diligence he feels it is premature to vote for this ordinance because he fears we are creating an ordinance that there is no circumstance where it would ever meet the special use criteria and if that is the case we have effectively banned it and we should not do that. Chairman Smith called for a vote on the motion and the vote was as follows: AYES: Khan, Stark, Weinstein, Johnson, Goldspiel, Matthews, Smith NAYS: Cohn ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None The motion passed 7 to 1. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT- None FUTURE AGENDA SCHEDULE Mr. Pfeil noted the January 1=` meeting will be canceled. The next regular meeting will be January 15, 2014. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS - None STAFF REPORT Mr. Pfeil thanked the Commission for another year of excellent work. NEW BUSINESS - None ADJOURNMENT Moved by Commissioner Cohn, seconded by Commissioner Stark and carried unanimously to adjourn. Chairman Smith adjourned the meeting at 8:11 pm. Respectfully submitted, Fay Rubin, Recording Secretary APPROVED BY: ERIC SMITH, Chair