Last week, the Zoning Administrator for the City of Chicago ruled that Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile qualifies as a school under the legal definition provided in state law. This school is within 500 feet of 620 N Fairbanks, and that makes the location ineligible to be used as a cannabis dispensary under the Chicago Zoning Ordinance. This is the position, with your support, that SOAR has argued since the beginning of this process.

At Friday's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hearing, the dispensary applicant's lawyer said they filed an appeal to the Zoning Administrator's ruling which will be heard by the ZBA at the April 19 meeting. They also asked for a continuance on their special use application for 620 N Fairbanks. If the appeal is successful, the new date of the hearing is now scheduled for May 17 at 2pm. If the Zoning Administrator's ruling is upheld by the ZBA when they hear the appeal on April 19, then the ZBA process ends - but the dispensary applicant could take the case further to the Circuit Court of Cook County if they so choose.

We will update you in the coming weeks as we learn more about the appeal on April 19, and the resulting process and outcome. Please pencil in May 17 at 2pm to your calendars, in the event the hearing moves forward then.

In the meantime, please continue to share this petition and email Alderman Hopkins and the ZBA (see previous update post for template and instructions).