Cook County amended Code Chapter 102 in 2019 to allow adult-use cannabis dispensaries, craft growers, infusers, processors, and transporters as special uses in specified business and industrial zoning districts in unincorporated areas, subject to buffer and parking standards.
Cook County Board Ordinance 19-3088 amended Ch. 102 to define cannabis business establishments and place dispensaries in C-4 General Service Commercial and C-8 Restricted Service Commercial districts as special uses, with cultivators, processors, and transporters routed to M-1 and M-2 industrial districts. Each application goes through site-plan review by the Department of Building and Zoning, a public hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals, and a final special-use approval by the County Board. Standards include 1,500-foot sensitive-use buffers, parking minimums, signage limits, ventilation and odor controls, and security plans coordinated with the Sheriff. Drive-throughs are prohibited.
Operating a cannabis business in an unauthorized district, without a special-use permit, or out of compliance with site-plan conditions triggers Ch. 102 zoning enforcement, daily fines up to $1,000, special-use revocation, and abatement actions in Cook County Circuit Court.
See how Arlington Heights's commercial cannabis zoning rules stack up against other locations.
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