Orland Hills poses marijuana question
Village asks voters whether pot dispensary tax money should help ease property taxes
With a recreational marijuana dispensary possible for Orland Hills, voters there are being asked in a referendum whether half the tax revenue the cannabis outlet might bring in should be used to provide property tax relief.
A dispensary with an on-premise smoking lounge is proposed for a former Ace Hardware store at 167th Street and La Grange Road.
The Orland Hills Village Board voted Aug. 22 to put the advisory question on the ballot, asking whether 50% of tax revenue from the dispensary should be used to abate part of the village’s tax levy. The referendum is meant to gauge voter interest and doesn’t bind village officials to taking action.
The Village Board voted Sept. 21 to allow an adult-use cannabis and cannabis consumption lounge.
Orland Hills officials did not return calls seeking additional information regarding the referendum question or the planned dispensary.
Entre Commercial Realty, in an April news release, said it had worked on behalf of a buyer for the former Ace Hardware store in Orland Hills, and that the unidentified buyer plans a 10,000-squarefoot dispensary along with a 10,000-square-foot indoor/ outdoor smoking lounge.
A message left with the company seeking additional information was not returned Wednesday.
Entre noted in the sales announcement that it would be Orland Hills’ only dispensary, as the village allocated one license for a recreational cannabis dispensary.
Currently in the south and southwest suburbs there are recreational marijuana dispensaries operated by Curaleaf in Mokena and Worth, Mission Dispensaries in Calumet City and Windy City Cannabis in Homewood, Justice, Posen and Worth. A dispensary is also planned in a former restaurant on Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park.