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Recreational marijuana store wants to open in Harwood Heights

The owners of a medical marijuana dispensary met with Harwood Heights officials Monday, presenting their plans to open a recreational shop in Harwood Heights.

The company, Earth Med, operates one dispensary in Addison and hopes to secure a second location where they can sell recreational marijuana starting Jan. 1, when the new state law goes into effect allowing the legal sale of the drug for recreational use.

“The prices will be pretty high, that will keep out unwanted customers” said chief executive officer Gus Koukoutsakis. “We’re going to keep the level of clientele at its best.”

Earth Med’s hope is to open a high-end dispensary, set up “kind of like a Starbucks” in the retail space at 4747 N. Harlem Ave., next to the Office Max, Koukoutsakis said. George Assimakopoulos, foreman of water and sewer and project coordinator for the village, said the space on Harlem Avenue is about 7,200 square feet.

The presentation was “to gather information only,” said Mayor Alrene Jezierny, who stressed no decisions have been made as to whether the dispensary will be allowed.

Village officials raised questions about safety, traffic, an increase in black market drug sales, security precautions and out-of-town customers.

Koukoutsakis said the average customer is expected to be 35 to 60 years old, would spend an average of $100 to $300 per visit and would be in and out of the store in about 15 minutes.

Upon entering the store, customers who are at least 21 and have a valid identification will be brought into a limited access area where they can look at a menu and choose from a variety of more than 100 products, including edibles, tinctures, oils, smokables, creams and lotions, he said.

For those who aren’t sure what product they need, consultant Jay Dalicandro said customers can come in and express their need, whether it be more energy, better sleep or treatment for aches and pains, and the customer consultants will help them find what is right for them.

Harwood Heights would receive 3 percent of all revenue the store brings in, said Michael Perez, chief operating officer for Earth Med. Revenue projections show that the village would receive $400,000 in revenue in the first year.

“We expect to be good neighbors, we do not expect to have any problems in the facility and our security is a priority,” Koukoutsakis said.

At its Addison store, Earth Med has a $150,000 security system with more than 30 cameras that are under 24-hour surveillance by the state police, Perez said. The store in Harwood Heights would have even more cameras and private security. In Addison, their security guards are all former Chicago police officers.

New Harwood Heights Police Chief John DeVries asked the Earth Med team if they would be willing to put a 360-degree camera on one of the wooden poles on Harlem Avenue that faces that shopping center, that could be monitored from the police station.

The team agreed, an Perez said that they could also explore allowing the police to log into the entire Earth Med security system, having access to all its cameras.

Board member Anna Wegrecki asked whether there would be records kept of purchases made by all customers. Koukoutsakis said that medical sales are tracked from day one. For recreational sales, the customer has to volunteer to have their purchases recorded, but most of them do, he said.

Earth Med follows state regulated limits for what customers can purchase per day.

“You can’t walk in and buy the whole store,” said Dalicandro.

For in-state customers, the limit is 30 grams per day. For shoppers who aren’t Illinois residents, the limit is 15 grams.

There is no sampling allowed and all products must remain sealed until the customer has left the facility.

“Everything that goes in goes out,” said Dalicandro.

Harwood Heights treasurer Joe Russo said that the committee had much more to discuss on the topic and would revisit it in September.

“We’re treading through this very carefully,” Jezierny said. “The most important thing is keeping our community safe.”