The Peoria City Council is working on modifying its ordinance regulating cannabis businesses, with new limitations on where dispensaries can operate and the length of special-use permits.
During a special meeting this week, the council discussed 10 different items pertaining to the ordinance related to both zoning and licensing aspects.
“They agreed that instead of having a two-year special use permit, that a cannabis special use would only last for six months, trying to ensure that the properties don't just sit for two years while nothing happens,” said City Manager Patrick Urich. “Second, they wanted to require a special use permit in all zoning districts. Previously, if you were looking at putting in a growing facility, you could do that in industrial districts by right. So they changed that requirement.”
Urich also said the council has decided to prohibit cannabis businesses in the Warehouse District. He said each of these zoning changes will go back before the Planning and Zoning Commission before a final vote of approval from the council.
The council has also decided to prohibit on-site consumption and limit the number of cannabis dispensaries in Peoria to six, with three of those reserved for social equity applicants. Additionally, the ordinance will be updated to include a definition of “social equity” and assure that operators applying for a license under that definition don’t flip the business to a third party.
“They wanted to make sure that the social equity applicants could prove that they are a social equity applicant,” said Urich. “We required a limitation on the transfer of a business license, just trying to make sure that we don't see kind of any sleight of hand with somebody that says that they're a social equity applicant, and then they shift it to somebody else.”
Urich said Peoria currently has two operating dispensaries and several other special use approvals have already been granted.
“But one was approved for someone that doesn't have an actual license from the state. Three others have their licenses but they haven't come in and got their local city license to start the process of opening up their business,” he said.
Although more than 60% of Peorians surveyed by the city last year said they favor on-site consumption, Urich said the council feels “it’s still a little bit too early” to allow it.
“I don't know of really any community right now in the state that is encouraging on-site consumption. I think even though West Peoria has been contemplating it, but they're not at a point where they're ready to move forward. So I think the council really just wanted to be cautious with that,” he said.
Urich said a vote on the licensing changes would likely occur during the first council meeting in April.
Library contract talks
Urich said he expects that unionized Peoria Public Library workers and the library board will come to an agreement on a labor deal.
About 65 library employees represented by AFSCME Local 3464 have been working under an expired contract since the start of the year. Urich said he anticipates there will need to be some compromise on both sides.
“The labor dispute is something that's between the Library Board of Trustees and the AFSCME union, and I'm fully confident that they'll be able to work this out,” said Urich. “It's just labor negotiations; they take some time and take some effort and both sides will give and there'll be some give and take, and they'll be able to come to a conclusion of these labor negotiations.”
Urich said the library's annual budget of about $7 million is funded primarily by property taxes. He added that city property tax funds also go toward debt payment from expansion of the library system, when the North Branch facility was built and the Lincoln and downtown branches were renovated.
“So from that perspective, if you look at it when the city adopts their property tax levy for both the library and the city, nearly 25% of our property tax levy goes towards library operations,” he said.
Union representatives have said pay rates have been the main sticking point, noting many library employees indicate they're living paycheck-to-paycheck. In a statement, library executive director Randall Yelverton said they hope to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.
Water company
Every five years, Peoria has the option of purchasing the water company – now Illinois American Water – and taking over operation of the service. Urich said the council must pass a resolution to buy the water company by Nov. 3 with the anniversary of the original buyout coming in May of 2024.
“As the new council will get seated in May, we'll be working to try and bring them up to speed on what are those policy considerations that they need to think about when it comes to the purchase of the water company, and then they'll have to make that decision by the end of October,” said Urich.
He said if the council does choose to buy the water company, it could trigger a complicated valuation process to negotiate a purchase price.
“if we can, we'll negotiate that purchase price and bring that back to council for their approval,” said Urich. “If we cannot, then we hire independent appraisers – the city will appoint one, the water company will appoint one, and there'll be a third appointed by them. Then we'll go through kind of a longer due diligence process where we try and figure out what the cost of the water purchase would be, and then that three-member body would make that determination of what the price of the water company would be.”
Urich said the council will also need to consider if taking over water service is cost effective and advantageous for the city.
“The rules that have been laid out from (when) the city sold the water company, going back 120 or 130 years ago, I think that the structure of the repurchase really wasn't designed for the city ever to buy the water company back,” he said.
Solar farms
After a proposed solar farm along Reservoir Boulevard was voted down at the last council meeting, Urich said the city is looking into how it can accommodate future renewable energy projects.
“One of the things that we're really looking at right now is: where are some good locations that we can try and encourage the development of solar farms?” said Urich. “The case that came in before the city council was putting a solar farm really close to some condos and apartments, and it was going to be right in somebody's backyard.
“So I think that staff needs to look at some distance requirements from residential properties. So we make sure that we have some sort of buffer. And then we need to look at what is the appropriate size of a solar farm and where we want to see that.”
Urich said staff and council members have had some internal discussions about sites that might make sense for solar developments.
“I think that we have some space and some locations that they would certainly fit. There may be even some locations downtown where they might work, if we could look at the top of buildings, for example, or the top of parking decks,” said Urich. “I think we need to continue to explore those. I think with the cost of, of energy prices continuing to go up, it's something that we're going to see more and more people continuing to look at that.”
