Plan Commission Recommends Approval of Cannabis Location Guidelines

The Effingham City Plan Commission Tuesday voted to recommend the City Council approve where adult use cannabis sales can take place in the city.

Commissioners approved the text of an amendment to the City Code concerning a special use permit for an adult use cannabis dispensing organization in a B-5, or highway commercial district. The vote on that matter was unanimous.

However, a separate vote on a petition for a special use permit in a B-5 district was only approved 4-2, with Brad Meinhart and Cindy Vogel voting No. Commissioners Brian Hayes, Mark Thies, Alan Harris and Dave Storm voted Yes. The adult use marijuana sales location is 1011 W. Ford Avenue, where The Clinic is located and where medicinal marijuana sales already occur.

Local pastor Brian Newswander of the Effingham Assembly Church appeared to speak against the request for a sales permit, saying the City Council voted to allow the sales, but that doesn't mean a permit has to be issued.

The City Council will likely consider the matter at next week's meeting.

Also Tuesday, the Plan Commission approved a site plan for a reconfigured Jack Flash location at 1502 W. Fayette. The plan is to relocate some fuel tanks to separate diesel sales from gasoline sales. The design will also allow traffic to leave the location to the north onto Illini Drive. The relocation will better accommodate campers separate from other vehicles, but could also result in some fuel sales to semis.

Commission members recommended the City Council approve a plat of Unkraut Subdivision, a one-lot subdivision at Rickelman Avenue and Charlotte Street. The lot will accommodate a single-family home and an accessory building, with the remainder of the 77-acre tract to be used for agricultural purposes.

The Commission recommended a rezoning of a lot at 2008 N. Steger Drive from non-urban to single-family residential so Troy and Laura Hardiek can build a home on the lot. Also recommended was a rezoning of land at 2710 N. 3rd Street from non-urban to M-1 Light Industrial District. There are plans to relocate I-70 Truck Center there from their current location along East Rickelman Avenue. The lot is along the east side of North Route 45 between Oneighty and B&L Machine. A third rezoning request was continued until the Plan Commission's February meeting. That involved a lot along North 1000th Road in the area of Prairie Ace Estates. The continuance was granted at the request of the developer.