The Planning and Zoning Commission on July 28 voted to recommend approval of Ordinance 26-25, a variance from the commercial table of uses to allow Life Dispensary to operate an on-site cannabis consumption event center at 7600 West Lane. Staff recommended approval with a set of conditions intended to regulate on-site consumption and public safety.

Staff explained the zoning code does not currently identify a use that allows on-site consumption in a commercial district, so the applicant sought a variance and staff negotiated conditions that other communities use for similar operations. Management analyst Kevin Sutter was cited in the staff report for researching how other jurisdictions handle on-site consumption.

Applicant Michael Hodges, who identified himself as having operated dispensaries and a cultivation site previously, said the business would not be a bar: “I just wanna assure the board that we don't want this to be a bar.” Hodges described policies to prevent outside product from being brought in and said state law requires that products purchased for on-site consumption be consumed or destroyed before the patron leaves the building.

Key conditions discussed by the commission and staff include a cap on total outdoor consumption patio area (staff language sets the patio at no more than 6,000 square feet), a requirement that cannabis products consumed in the event space be purchased at Life Dispensary (condition 13) except for private events, security at entrances to verify age and to prevent cross-circulation of alcohol and cannabis in non‑special-event situations, and written approval from the village administrator to temporarily expand consumption into outdoor event space for special events.

A staff clarification noted outdoor consumption is allowed in the defined patio area under conditions, and any expansion beyond that patio for special events would require written approval from the village administrator. Two public commenters signed in and were recorded as supporting the application.

The roll-call recommendation was unanimous among voting commissioners: Klinger, Gentry, Holmes, Pfluger, Hankins and Danny Levitz voted yes; the matter now goes to the Planning and Economic Development meeting on Aug. 4 at 5:30 p.m. The staff report and conditions will be available for review at that meeting.