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A company looking to open up a recreational marijuana dispensary in Oak Park is seeking a special use permit from the village.
Liberator Illinois is applying for a special-use permit to operate a cannabis retail dispensary at 7045 North Ave., according to an Oak Park village manager’s report. The building, located close to the village’s northwest corner, was formerly a discount furniture store.
The process of opening recreational marijuana dispensaries has been heavily regulated in Illinois since the substance was made legal in the state in 2019. The company is now in the process of applying for the Oak Park special-use permit, a requirement of all new cannabis dispensaries since February 2020, according to the report.
The company currently operates stores in Seattle and San Francisco and is progressing on two store locations in Chicago’s Logan Square and Edgewater neighborhoods, according to the report.
The village’s Development Services staff anticipates the application for the proposed dispensary, which would be called The Bakeree, will be before the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals for consideration in either July or August 2025, according to the report.
No dispensary permit application is presently on the agenda of Oak Park’s Zoning Board of Appeals, according to village records.
Oak Park’s village board would have final say over the project if the proposal clears the zoning board, according to the report.
If approved, Liberator Illinois officials have indicated their intention to purchase the property on North Avenue and invest significant resources in both interior build-out and exterior façade improvements, according to the report.
If approved, The Bakeree would become the second recreational marijuana dispensary in Oak Park, joining Dutchess Cannabis Company’s Lake Street location, which took over the location after the MedMen marijuana dispensary went bust last year.
Judith Alexander is the founder of The North Avenue District local business association, a group that advocates for responsible development in the corridor surrounding the busy street. Alexander said that while she has had a positive meeting with staff at Liberator, her organization plans to oppose the dispensary’s special use application when it comes before the zoning board.
Her opposition is based on how the business might impact traffic issues on North Avenue, which she said Oak Park and Chicago leaders have failed to address via a streetscaping project.
“I have no doubt in my mind that they’re very reputable, but my issues are traffic safety issues,” she said. “This location only has four parking spaces in the back, so that means that customers are probably going to be parking on North Avenue and parking on side streets and that makes the whole thing worse.”
It doesn’t help that driving under the influence is already a problem on North Avenue, Alexander said.
“I completely believe that the people who would like to open this dispensary that they will do everything they can to keep people from driving under the influence of cannabis,” she said. “I just don’t think anyone can control it, who can control it? They’re going to make our problem worse and for that reason I oppose it.”
Alexander said her organization would support the dispensary moving in if safety improvements like curb bump outs and median landscaping had already been put into place on North Avenue.
“If we had our streetscape, my opinion would probably be different,” she said.
“}]] As village awaits special use meeting, a business group is concerned about the traffic impact the dispensary would have Read More
