Revolution and High Haven Dispensaries were both approved by the Normal Council on Monday night. Revolution will be located in the strip shopping center off of Northpoint Dr. on the south side of Raab Rd. with Normal Maytag Coin Laundry and Gloria Jean’s Coffee. High Haven plans to open their store at 106 Mall Dr. in the building that for years housed the Mandarin Garden restaurant.
Revolution
Mark Steinmetz, Co-Owner of Revolution said, “I think this is a healthy democratic process I think that those that opposed had a chance to speak their minds. I think a lot of it was passionate. It was not necessarily well informed. I think the facts did come through. I think a lot of town council people understand the process. This was do we meet the requirements or do we not meet the requirements of the town? And it passed. So we did.”
The vote was 5 to 2 with council members Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston voting against the Special Use Permit being requested by Revolution. Both voted no because they don’t believe the parking design for the dispensary will operate very well.
“They are wanting to put 13 more spaces in this lot, ” Lorenz said. “Seven or eight are intended to go in the back behind the strip mall. I drove back there. I am no parking expert. I think it will be tight to put parallel parking in there. I had a hard time driving through and turning back around. I had to back up and turn it a few times.”
But four other council members and the mayor agreed with city staff that the parking plan is adequate and the development should be approved.
Steinmetz was a little upset with some of the discussion. “You know the boogeyman has always been cannabis,” he said. “And the boogeyman back in the 20’s was alcohol. And there is not a lot of talk about personal responsibility or use in moderation. It’s if you are using it at all you are going to get high. I mean if you open a bottle of wine you are going to open five bottle of wine and get drunk. It’s the same analogy and it’s just ridiculous.”
High Haven
The Normal council approved High Haven with a seven to nothing vote.
Mahja Sulemanjee Vortocek, CEO of High Haven said, “We’re feeling great. We did a lot of work in between. You see we changed our application quite a bit, made sure we submitted something that was really addressing all of the concerns of the community and also the council. We feel good.”
It’s hard to describe this feeling but at the same time I know there is a lot of work left to do,” Gabe Judd, Lead Counsel for High Haven said. “Next is to finalize our construction plans now that we know we are actually going to be able to get into the space and get construction going.”
Judd said he thinks it may take 30 to 45 days before the owners are able to vacate the primisis.
Vortocek beieves permitting and construction may take six to eight weeks and they hope to be open by late fall.
