A Riverside commission has rejected an informal request from the village’s only dispensary that would have allowed it to open one hour earlier each day.
As part of its Feb. 28 meeting, the Riverside planning and zoning commission discussed a petition to change the village’s zoning code to allow adult-use cannabis businesses to open at 8 a.m. rather than 9 a.m. The petition was filed by the village of Riverside on behalf of Star Buds, the only cannabis dispensary in town, which informally contacted the village about the change in January.
At the meeting, which also served as a public hearing, commissioners said they initially supported the move; however, after nearly half an hour of discussion, they rejected the bid and only changed some ambiguous wording within the zoning code. The Riverside village board will make a final decision on the request at an upcoming meeting.
The zoning code change was first mentioned by village president Douglas Pollock at the Jan. 18 village board meeting, during which he said village staff had “received an inquiry” from the dispensary about opening earlier. At that meeting, the village board approved having the planning and zoning commission consider amending the code.
Under the Riverside zoning code, dispensaries are permitted to operate from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., but at the meeting, village planner Anne Cyran said Illinois law allows dispensaries to open as early as 6 a.m. According to a village memo, Star Buds had asked the village to allow it to open earlier so that any customers, “particularly those who purchase medical cannabis” and senior citizens, could take advantage of the extra hour and visit the business in the morning.
Lost income
According to the memo, the owners of Star Buds estimated that the store loses “approximately $2,000 to $3,000 in potential sales” from staying closed for the extra hour. The figures come from a comparison to its Star Buds location in Burbank, which is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cyran clarified at the meeting that Star Buds’ estimate was for daily losses and said that the village could not confirm the estimate’s accuracy.
“We cannot verify their sales information. That’s privileged information that we cannot be provided and that we can’t share with the public,” Cyran said. “[The estimate] was provided to us by Star Buds. We’re assuming that that’s accurate information.”
Commissioner John Mathews said at the meeting that he had initially planned to support amending the zoning code but that he changed his mind after hearing Star Buds had not provided its financial information to the village to prove its losses.
“Okay, they told us they’re missing out on sales at two to three grand in that hour. Mm, you know, yeah, maybe,” he said. “If we can’t see figures, they can’t prove that.”
Commissioner Jacqueline Miller expressed similar sentiments.
“I agree with the lack of any evidence as to whether they would make any more money or not. We have nothing in front of us. There’s no evidence. There’s no statement. There’s no affidavit. There’s nothing,” she said. “I don’t see, under our standards for text amendments, based on what we have in front of us, a reason to be in favor of this change.”
Riverside’s standards for zoning code text amendments are included in its village code. For an amendment to satisfy the village’s standards, the planning and zoning commissioners must be able to identify ways in which the change would promote “public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare” within Riverside. The standards also include checking for consistency with village plans and the zoning code’s overall intent, among other items. The full list of standards is available on Riverside’s website.
Commissioners also cited increased traffic as a reason to reject the proposed amendment at the meeting. Star Buds is located next to the intersection of South Harlem Avenue and Berkeley Road, which connects to Longcommon Road via Byrd Road. According to the village memo, Riverside has been working since 2018 — five years before Star Buds opened — with Berkeley Road and Byrd Road residents to reduce the amount of traffic on those streets. In the past, drivers had taken them to get to Longcommon Road, which intersects with South Harlem Avenue immediately south of its intersection with Berkeley Road.
Since then, according to the memo, the village has put up Do Not Enter signs at Berkeley Road’s intersection with South Harlem Avenue. Earlier this year, it also added a No Left Turns sign to the Star Buds parking lot exit on Berkeley Road, meaning drivers leaving that way must turn onto South Harlem Avenue if they wish to reach Longcommon Road. It had previously added a Right Turn Only sign there as well.
At the meeting, Mathews said that South Harlem Avenue gets the most traffic from 7:30-9 a.m. already and that allowing Star Buds to open at 8 a.m. could compound the issue.
This bird’s-eye view map of the area surrounding Star Buds in Riverside points out where the village has added signage to reduce traffic on Berkeley Road and Byrd Road. | Courtesy of the village of Riverside 
Riverside has added No Left Turns and Right Turns Only signs around the Berkeley Road exit of Star Buds’ parking lot. The Do Not Enter signs that the village added first can be seen to the left. | Courtesy of the village of Riverside
Igniting code changes
While the commission did not amend the zoning code to permit dispensaries to open at 8 a.m., it did approve another change. At the meeting, commissioner Melinda Brom said she took issue with language in the zoning code, which states that dispensaries “shall operate only between” specific hours. Instead, she suggested the code state that “it is unlawful” for dispensaries to operate outside of those hours, so that any future dispensaries in Riverside would not be bound to open and close at those exact times. The commission approved that change at the meeting.
The approved zoning code text amendment will pass through Riverside’s preservation committee at an upcoming special meeting before village trustees vote on it at a board meeting next month.
Update, March 1, 2024, 5:02 p.m.: This story was updated to correct an error in the headline. While the planning and zoning commission did reject the text amendment, the final decision will be made by the village board at an upcoming meeting.
