Residents raise concerns about proposed marijuana store in old Rainforest Cafe in Chicago, but prior worries have faded, area leader says

River North residents voiced concerns Tuesday about a proposal to open a fourth recreational marijuana store in the neighborhood, at the former Rainforest Cafe site — but one area leader said previous worries about such shops have largely faded.

Progressive Treatment Solutions (PTS) pitched its plan to partner with cannabis startup Bio-Pharm, LLC, to open the shop at Ohio and Clark streets, within blocks of three dispensaries, after a prior proposal fell through.

Initially, PTS proposed moving its Consume Cannabis medical dispensary from Norwood Park to the site, but that ran afoul of the state law requiring a 1,500-foot separation from other cannabis shops.

By partnering with Bio-Pharm, PTS officials hope to avoid that issue. BioPharm is exempt from the distancing requirement as a social equity applicant, defined as being majority owned or employing people from areas with high poverty or high arrest rates for cannabis, or owners or family member who have had minor cannabis convictions.

Bio-Pharm qualified as social equity because Michael Munroe Jr., father of the chief operating officer Kevin Munroe, had a cannabis conviction from 1972. Other owners are listed as Michael Munroe III, of Chicago, and Erin Madden, of River Forest.

After a proposed renovation costing an estimated $7 million to $10 million, officials said, the dispensary would operate 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, and employ 55 people, 36 of them full time, and have 55 parking spaces available to parking lots in the area. The store would have four armed guards during operating hours, and about 90 surveillance cameras, with feeds to local and state police. The opening is planned for 2023.

About a dozen area residents at a community meeting at Maggiano’s Little Italy raised concerns about the concentration of four dispensaries in the neighborhood and their influence on children, and about customers smoking in public, the need for armed guards and rising crime in the neighborhood.

“The police cannot properly protect the residents now,” resident Juana Alvarez said. “Why should we be impressed by PTS having extra external patrol.”

Tyrone Muhammad, founder of Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change, and others spoke forcefully about the injustice of the legal cannabis industry. They demanded inclusion in executive positions, noting that white men primarily are making millions of dollars off the plant, while Black men and women still sit imprisoned for cannabis convictions.

“We want to sit at the table,” he said.

PTS CEO Terry Peterson, an African American former aldermen and former head of the Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago Housing Authority, said PTS officials plan to partner with more social equity applicants in the future.

Peterson said the cannabis industry is paying millions in taxes that the state should use to help people affected by the war on drugs. “We’d look to be a good neighbor and build on the quality of life in the neighborhood,” Peterson said.

During the meeting at Maggiano’s, the public Zoom feed ended abruptly without audible explanation, with no residents voicing support, and one listener calling it a “train wreck.”

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The president of the River North Residents Association, Brian Israel, said before the meeting that many residents initially had concerns about crime or on-site consumption stemming from the weed shops, but those problems had largely not materialized.

“It’s been less of an issue than people expected it to be,” Israel said.

The community has far bigger concerns, he said, with the general rise in violent crime and a proposed casino.

The PTS proposal goes next to the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals. Progressive Treatment Solutions, majority owned by podiatrist Christine Heck of West Chicago, has four stores and a cultivation site in Illinois, as well as operations in Arizona, Ohio, and Michigan.

Another cannabis company, GRI Holdings, also has an application for a cannabis dispensary nearby, at 612 N. Wells St. GRI’s owners include restaurant owner Phil Stefani, former Chicago police Officer Thomas Wheeler Jr. and former CTA official John Trotta.

While the state has named 185 provisional winners of new cannabis dispensary licenses, they are held up by a court order due to lawsuits by applicants who claim they were unfairly denied licenses. State officials plan to hold a corrective lottery for those who show they deserve another chance. PTS hopes the pending licenses will be released this summer.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com