Montgomery Village Board to consider permit request for cannabis dispensary

MONTGOMERY - A former bank located just east of Orchard Road in Montgomery may become Kendall County’s first cannabis dispensary.

World of Weed, LLC is seeking Montgomery Village Board approval of a special use permit to open the dispensary in the former BMO Harris Bank at 1970 Caterpillar Drive.

The board is scheduled to consider the permit request when they gather for their next meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, April 11 at Village Hall, 200 North River Street.

The village’s planning and zoning commission conducted a public hearing over the permit request April 7 and then voted 6-0 to approve an advisory recommendation in support of the request. The village’s community development staff has also endorsed the permit request.

In their application for the permit, developers noted the approximate, 4,400 square foot bank building is “well suited for dispensary use as it already has some security infrastructure already in place.”

The application continues: “The point of customer entry/exit will be via a secured entry on the south side of the building. Customers will wait in a waiting area until they enter a sale floor which is segregated and secured from the back of the house which is where a vault, product storage area, and employee breakroom are located. No cannabis product will be visible from outside of the building.”

The proposed hours of operation for the dispensary would be from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

No on site consumption of cannabis product or complimentary products such as food and drink will be permitted.

The developers do not plan to make significant changes to the exterior of the former bank.

The application adds, “The bulk of the changes will be made to the interior of the building. Further, while the drive through lanes will remain, the applicant does not intend to utilize them as state law does not permit ‘drive through’ sales of cannabis.”

The dispensary would be the first of its kind to locate within Kendall County. Currently the nearest dispensaries are located in Aurora, Naperville and North Aurora.