Restricted Cannabis Zone Guidelines

An overview of the process creating a Restricted Cannabis Zone is below. For more detailed information, please see the Restricted Cannabis Zone Administrative Rules and the Illinois Compiled Statute, 410 ILCS 705/55-28.

OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS CREATING A RESTRICTED CANNABIS ZONE

The Illinois Compiled Statute has been amended to allow a legal voter to propose to restrict home cultivation, or one or more types of cannabis business establishments which include cultivation centers, craft growers, processing organizations, dispensing organizations, and transporting organizations, or both home cultivation and one or more cannabis business establishments from operating in that precinct. To be eligible, the individual seeking a Petition from the City Clerk must be a legally registered voter in the precinct the individual seeks to restrict.

RESTRICTION PROCESS OVERVIEW

A legal voter seeking to circulate a Petition to restrict home cultivation and/or one or more types of cannabis business establishments in a precinct ("Legal Voter") must utilize the following steps:

(1) The Legal Voter must first submit a Notice of Intent Form IN PERSON to the City Hall Office of the City Clerk, along with proof of residency in the precinct. The Notice of Intent Form can be obtained in the City Hall office of the City Clerk, or downloaded here

Upon receipt of a completed Notice of Intent Form, the City Clerk will post the Notice of Intent Form online and will provide the Legal Voter with a Petition. The Legal Voter may begin circulating the Petition the day the Notice of Intent Form is posted online – but not before. The Legal Voter will have 90 calendar days to circulate the Petition

(2) The completed Petition must be returned to City Hall. For a Petition to be valid and legally sufficient it must comply with all of the requirements listed in the Petition Guidelines that are attached to the Petition. The Petition must be completed no more than 90 days after the City Clerk posts the Notice of Intent Form.

(3) Upon the Petition's completion and return to the City Hall Office of the City Clerk, the City Clerk will post the Petition online at www.chicityclerk.com/cannabis for a 30 day comment period. During the comment period the public may submit comments regarding the Petition. Comments may be submitted in person to the City Hall Office of the City Clerk, or to clerk.cannabis@cityofchicago.org, and will be available for public inspection at the City Hall Office of the City Clerk. 

During the 30-day comment period, the City Clerk will also review the submitted Petition for legal sufficiency. At the end of the 30-day comment period, the City Clerk will publicly post online its determination of whether the Petition is accepted as legally sufficient or rejected as legally insufficient. If the Petition is rejected as legally insufficient, the reasons for such rejection will also be posted online

(4) If the City Clerk determines that the Petition is legally sufficient and valid, the City Clerk will officially notify the Alderman of the affected ward. 

The Alderman may then review the Petition, along with other relevant factors about the precinct identified in the Petition, such as its geography, density and character, the prevalence of residentially zoned property, current licensed cannabis business establishments in the precinct, the current amount of home cultivation in the precinct, and the prevailing viewpoint with regard to establishing a Restricted Cannabis Zone within the precinct.

Following such review, the Alderman may introduce in City Council an Ordinance that seeks to establish a Restricted Cannabis Zone.

(5) If the Ordinance is passed, the restriction identified in the Petition will take effect on the effective date of the Ordinance.

DEFINITIONS

Cannabis Business Establishments” means a cultivation center, craft grower, processing organization, infusing organization, dispensing organization, or transporting organization pursuant to 410 ILCS 705/1-10.

"Circulator" means an Illinois legal voter who is at least 18 years of age or older and a citizen of the United States.

Dispensing Organization” means a facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to acquire cannabis from a cultivation center, craft grower, processing organization, or another dispensary for the purpose of selling or dispensing cannabis, cannabis-infused products, cannabis seeds, paraphernalia, or related supplies to purchasers or to qualified registered medical cannabis patients and caregivers.

Home Cultivation” means the growing of up to five (5) plants per household without a cultivation center or craft grower license, by an Illinois resident, who has resided in the State for a period of 30 days, is 21 years of age or older, and who is a registered qualifying patient under the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. 410 ILCS 705/10/5.   Home cultivation is for the individual resident’s own consumption. Cannabis cultivation must take place in an enclosed, locked space not within public view and precautions must be taken by the resident to ensure the plants are secure from unauthorized access. Cannabis cultivation may only occur on residential property lawfully in the possession of the cultivator or with the specific consent of the owner of the property.

Infuser Organization” means a facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to directly incorporate cannabis or cannabis concentrate into a product formulation to produce a cannabis-infused product.

"Legal voter" means a person: (1) who is duly registered to vote in the City of Chicago; and (2) whose name appears on a poll list compiled by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners since the last preceding election, regardless of whether the election was a primary, general or special election; and (3) who, at the relevant time, is a resident of the address in Chicago at which he or she is registered to vote; and (4) whose address, at the relevant time, is located in the precinct where such person seeks to circulate or to sign a petition, within the meaning of 410 ILCS 705/55-28 of the Illinois Compiled Statute, for an ordinance establishing that precinct as a restricted cannabis zone. As used in this definition, the term “relevant time” means at any time that: (i) a notice of intent is filed, pursuant to Section 705/55-28(c) of the Illinois Compiled Statute, to initiate the petition process under 410 ILCS 705/55-28 of the Illinois Compiled Statute, or (ii) the petition is circulated for signature in the applicable precinct; or (iii) the petition is signed by registered voters in the applicable precinct.

"Precinct" means the smallest constituent territory within the City of Chicago in which electors vote as a unit at the same polling place in any election governed by the Illinois Election Code.

Processing Organization” means a facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to either extract constituent chemicals or compounds to produce cannabis concentrate or incorporate cannabis or cannabis concentrate into a product formulation to produce cannabis products.

Restricted Cannabis Zone” means a precinct for which an Ordinance has been passed restricting home cultivation, one or more types of cannabis business establishments which include cultivation centers, craft growers, processing organizations, infuser organization, dispensing organizations, and transporting organizations, or both home cultivation and one or more cannabis business establishments.

Transporting Organization” means an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to transport cannabis on behalf of a cannabis business establishment.