Recap:
In March 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, making the location ineligible to be used as a cannabis dispensary under the Chicago Zoning Ordinance. However at Friday's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting, the dispensary applicant appealed and the ZBA members overturned that ruling thus allowing the dispensary to continue their application process.
The special use hearing for the proposed dispensary is now scheduled for Sept 20th at 2pm at City Hall.
What you can do:
- Come to the hearing on Sept 20th at 2pm at City Hall to express concerns - it is important for the ZBA members to hear from the community in this process.
- Continue to spread the word about this petition - it would be great to get to 1,000 signatures!
- Email Alderman Hopkins and the ZBA expressing opposition to a dispensary at this location if you have not already done so. A template is below that you can copy/paste into an email - make sure you sign with your name and address to the Alderman can attribute it to his ward.
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Email to: office@aldermanhopkins.com, zba@cityofchicago.org
cc: office+zba@soarchicago.org
Dear Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals and Alderman Hopkins:
I am writing you today to express my opposition to the recreational cannabis special use application for 620 N. Fairbanks Court in Streeterville.
The site is on a very busy street in Streeterville with no parking or standing. Fairbanks Court is also a main thoroughfare for CTA buses, private bus routes to/from the hospital campus, and emergency vehicles traveling to the emergency departments at the hospitals in the neighborhood. If dispensary customers double park and run in, it will only make the already bad traffic worse and will negatively impact the ability for residents, visitors and employees to travel through Streeterville.
The location is also very close to several child care centers and a school, therefore this is an unsuitable location for this type of adult use establishment. Additionally, as an attractive nuisance it may jeopardize the safety of those in the neighborhood.
I urge you to take a stand against this application as unsuitable for the character of this Streeterville neighborhood.
Thank you for your consideration,
NAME
ADDRESS (very important to include so Alderman Hopkins can attribute to his ward)