Craft cannabis growers, infusers say vote could lock them out of Springfield

Small-operation cannabis growers and infusers said they may be locked out of Springfield after the city council turned back a resolution to reconsider zoning for such industries.

Some council members said the drastic reduction in the setbacks was unpalatable to their constituents.

Mayor Jim Langfelder said he was still intent on getting an opinion on the matter from the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission, though at least one interested operator said he envisioned delays as being prohibitive to getting the cultivation center up and going in the city.

Jeff Fulgenzi said after Tuesday's meeting that "misinformation" was thwarting cannabis business in Springfield and that things Tuesday turned "personal" over the issue involving Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso.

Fulgenzi, a board member of the Illinois Craft Grow Association and a minority owner of Rt 66 Rec, LLC, a cannabis grower licensed in Springfield, said the operation was under the gun to get started and that he would be turning his attention to "more welcoming communities in Illinois."

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Tuesday's resolution, which would have taken the matter to the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission, lost on a 6-4 vote.

Casting "no" votes were Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase, Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley, Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan, Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer and DiCenso.

Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi voted "yes," though Jeff Fulgenzi is his son.

Conley said she had received "no support for setbacks this short," meaning a proposal to allow the growers in the city's industrial areas to be 200 feet from a private residence and 500 feet from a school or a day care. The setback is currently 1,500 feet.

Conley said she would be willing to take a closer look at the setbacks and seeing how other communities comparable in size to Springfield are addressing the issue.

Conley said complicating the issue is that buildings zoned I-1 and 1-2 are scattered throughout the city and not exclusively in industrial areas.

"The feedback I've gotten (about the proposed change) is that this is a step too far," Conley said. "I just did not have any sense that going from 1,500 to 200/500 was appropriate."

Langfelder said he has long favored industrial zoned area for cannabis retail and for growers and infusers.

"It's kind of backwards, in my estimation," said Langfelder, noting that the two dispensaries within city limits are in business areas.

The operation Jeff Fulgenzi is affiliated with would have been 5,000 square feet and created 25 to 30 full-time jobs, he said. It also would have created, he added, "significant tax revenue" for School District 186.

Council members received a letter from the school district's attorney urging them to maintain the current setback requirements.

Afterward, Jeff Fulgenzi said he had been fielding calls from neighborhood leaders who were told that his group was trying to do an end-around on the issue.

"We would have appreciated the opportunity to have a healthy discussion with planning and zoning and really discuss the facts with professionals, but the city council doesn't seem interested in that, so we're going to have look elsewhere," he said.

Fulgenzi, a former Sangamon County Board member and Lincoln Land Community College trustee, said the situation got personal with DiCenso presenting "misinformation and demagoguery."

DiCenso and John Fulgenzi had a verbal back and forth at the Aug. 9 committee of the whole meeting. When Fulgenzi said he was interested "in what's good for Springfield," DiCenso shot back, "well, what's good for your son (Jeff), who lives in Sherman."

DiCenso added that the alderman was responsible "for creating policy for (Springfield)."

DiCenso said she was OK with changing some setbacks, "but when you're really close to neighborhoods and really close to schools and really close to churches, we do have to be careful. I've been a strong supporter of cannabis. This is not something I'm opposed to, but let's use some common sense, too."

Other craft growers expressed frustration with the city council's direction.

Maurice Williams, representing Lincoln Labs, LLC, which is licensed in Pleasant Plains, said it had three locations in sight, though none fit the current zoning criteria.

"People have that stigmatism with marijuana. It's (a growing industry). It's evolving. It's everywhere. It's not going to go away."

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Tom Meiron, representing Illinois Infusers out of Chicago, said he feared Springfield was going down the Rust Belt path.

"With the current zoning restrictions, I can't find anywhere to go in Springfield," admitted Meiron, who grew up here. "It's such an anti-business environment. It's disheartening."

Jeff Fulgenzi said craft growers were "consistently" being recruited by other communities, but he didn't say specifically where it might land.

Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr., who presented the resolution, admitted afterward that Jeff Fulgenzi's company would probably look elsewhere.

"I was trying to prevent that or any of them from leaving," Williams said. "All I can do is try. I wanted it at least to go to Regional Planning. We'll probably send a note over there to ask, but I wanted something a little more official.

"It's the fastest growing industry around right now and I just wanted us to get some of these jobs and do it in a safe, environmentally-friendly way. Don't get me wrong, I don't want them next to schools and daycares either. The more we say no, the more we lose them all to the surrounding communities."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.