Marijuana Dispensary For Joliet’s Busiest Street Deserves Approval: City Hall

JOLIET — Dustin Anderson, who took over as Joliet’s director of community development last year, is urging the Joliet City Council to approve a special use permit at Tuesday night’s meeting for the Bisa Lina Dispensary. The business wants to redevelop the empty NAPA auto parts building on West Jefferson Street into a marijuana dispensary.

On March 20, the Joliet Zoning Board voted unanimously against putting a dispensary at 2121 West Jefferson Street. Representatives with the marijuana company told Joliet that they will have security guards on the property during regular business hours, and they expect to generate about $360,000 in sales taxes for the city of Joliet annually.

The empty NAPA store next to the Walgreens pharmacy along Hammes Avenue will become a thriving and prosperous property, they assured the city.

Anderson also emphasized that the property is not located in the Presence-Saint Joseph Medical Center TIF District.

In his City Council memo urging a yes vote, Anderson explained that:

If the special use permit is approved, the building at 2121 W. Jefferson Street will be leased to Veltiste Wellness who will operate the dispensary under the name “Bisa Lina Cannabis Dispensary.” Veltiste Wellness operates a dispensary under this name in Carol Stream. Their cultivation operations are based out of Battle Creek, Michigan.

The Veltiste Wellness operations team and partners have operated and consulted with many dispensaries in several markets including California, Oklahoma, and Michigan.

Veltiste Wellness anticipates the Joliet dispensary will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The company intends to employ around 20 people, with four to seven employees onsite at any given time, including at least one security guard.

Veltiste Wellness expects to serve 300 to 700 customers per day at this location, with peak periods between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and with Thursday and Friday being the highest-traffic days.

During peak hours, the dispensary expects to serve 50 to 80 customers per hour. During off-peak hours, 15 to 40 customers per hour are expected.

The redevelopment of the 6,000-square-foot former auto parts store includes renovations to the façade to rebrand this building as well as new landscaping. The property has parking for 35 vehicles, which exceeds the site’s parking requirement for a 6,000 square foot retail building.

“Based on staff’s analysis, staff finds that the proposed use, including its site plan and operational details, meet the Special Use Permit criteria … as well as the additional Special Use Permit requirements outlined in … the Zoning Ordinance. The proposed use should not have any impact on existing or planned uses located within the vicinity of the subject property,” Anderson shared in his memo to the City Council.

Related Joliet Patch coverage: