McLean County Times

Town of Normal Zoning Board of Appeals met Oct. 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Members Present:

Ms. Brand, Mr. Coates, Mr. Haywood, Mr. Palmgren, Mr. Queen

Members Absent:

Mr. Schaab, Mr. Anderson

Others Present:

Director of Inspections Greg Troemel, Town Planner Mercy Davison, Assistant Corporation Counsel Kevin Sheahan

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 5:02 p.m. by Ms. Brand, and she noted a quorum was present.

Approval of Minutes:

Mr. Queen moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 21, 2023, with an amendment to add the unanimous ZBA vote in favor of Mr. Anderson as Chair and Ms. Brand as Vice Chair. Mr. Coates seconded the motion. The minutes stood as amended.

Public Hearing:

a. 23-10-15-SU: Special Use Permit, 1730 Bradford Lane

Ms. Davison reviewed the staff report explaining the proposal to add an adult-use cannabis dispensary to the empty tenant space at 1730 Bradford Lane, a site located within the Constitution Trail Centre PUD. The site is accessed from the private drives internal to the larger commercial property, and the site has 126 parking spaces where code requires 98. The proposal includes all security measures required by state and local code, including security cameras and lighting. The only change to the exterior of the property would be an appropriately scaled and designed wall sign.

Ms. Davison also explained a recent zoning code change that requires dispensaries to be at least 1,500 feet apart from one another regardless of the type of ownership. The proposed dispensary location is more than 1,700 feet from the closest dispensary (Revolution at the corner of Raab and Northbrook).

Mr. Haywood asked staff to explain the parking requirement. Ms. Davison said that all land use types have a code-required parking requirement based on the square footage of the building. For a multitenant building, the parking requirement is 1 parking space per 200 sq. ft. of building. In this case, there are 98 spaces required.

Ms. Brand opened the public hearing.

Rich Marvel, 221 E. Front Street, Bloomington, introduced himself as the applicant’s legal representative. He was sworn in.

Autumn Sangrey, 211 Country Lane, Quincy, was also sworn in.

Mr. Marvel stated that Ms. Davison hit the application highlights and that he is proud of the thoroughness of the information presented in his client’s proposal. He stated the applicant – Land of Lincoln LLC – is owned by Ayr Wellness, a high-quality operator of dispensaries.

He said they are a sophisticated business group that is growing its business from seven to eight states. They have approximately 2,400 employees and 90-100 facilities across the country.

Mr. Marvel noted that the proposed site is very suitable for the use and that Ayr Wellness has the capital to open a solid business in a commercial district that is Normal’s front door from the north. He said he had been involved in the early years of the Constitution Trail Centre and is pleased to be back with a new proposal.

Ms. Brand asked if Ayr Wellness provides drive-up service, in which someone could order online in advance and have the product brought out to the car in the parking lot. Mr. Marvel said a person could order online or via text but that they must come into the store to pick up.

Ms. Brand asked how they would handle lots of people at once, who would be in line outside the entrance. She has seen that happen at Beyond Hello when she’s driving by, but it’s a stand-alone building where the line does not impact another business. This would not be the case at Ayr Wellness.

Ms. Sangrey introduced herself as the compliance officer and said Ayr Wellness has locations in other multitenant buildings. In those cases, they have a security officer outside the building to ensure the line does not impact adjacent businesses. They do have a limit on how many people can be in the building based on the fire code, but typically that limit is not met and there is no line.

Mr. Palmgren asked her to explain the flow into and out of the facility and how they would prevent the line from encroaching onto the Moe’s portion of the building.

ZONING BOARD MINUTES 3 October 19, 2023

Ms. Sangrey explained that there is a security guard immediately inside the front entrance who checks IDs. The guard then presses a button to let the person into the main facility. She said the door closest to Moe’s would only be used as an emergency exit and that the further door would be for entering. This would create more separation from Moe’s.

Mr. Haywood said he appreciated the security information. He asked if there would be security guards at the internal doors.

Ms. Sangrey answered not necessarily, but when it is a busy day, a security guard would walk the perimeter of the building with a second guard at the entrance. This only occurs when they have special events that draw a larger customer count.

Mr. Haywood asked if the grand opening would be such an event, and Ms. Sangrey said yes.

Ms. Brand asked if Ayr Wellness would alert the other building tenants about anticipated busy days, and Ms. Sangrey said yes, they always provide notification. Sometimes, other businesses coordinate their events accordingly.

Ms. Brand closed the public hearing.

Mr. Troemel noted that many businesses are busier than usual in the first few days and that with the presence of Beyond Hello and the pending opening of Revolution and High Haven, the novelty of a new cannabis dispensary may be lessened. He also noted that this site has more on-site parking than any previous location as well.

Ms. Brand noted that the Ayr Wellness location is different than the previously mentioned locations due to its location within a large commercial area.

Mr. Coates moved to approve the staff findings and recommendations as presented, which support the approval of the dispensary as proposed. Mr. Queen seconded.

Ayes: Mr. Coates, Mr. Haywood, Mr. Palmgren, Mr. Queen, Ms. Brand

Nays: None

The motion carried 5-0

Other Business:

Ms. Davison said the November meeting would be canceled due to a lack of agenda items.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.

https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4777