MOLINE, Ill. — A new cannabis dispensary will open in Moline, following final approval from aldermen during a City Council meeting on Monday.
Bolden Investments I, LLC, applied for a special use permit to operate "Revolution Dispensary."
It was approved by the council in a 5-2 vote, with 1st Ward Alderman Scott Williams and 7th Ward Alderman Mike Waldron voting no. At-Large Alderman Patrick Schmidt was not at the meeting.
"I don't believe we needed one, and we certainly don't need two," Waldron said.
Last fall, City Council approved the city's first cannabis dispensary at the former Aldi grocery store at 2727 Avenue of the Cities. It has yet to open.
Moline zoning dictates four different overlay districts for cannabis businesses: Avenue of the Cities, the John Deere Corridor, Uptown around the 16th Street corridor and near the airport. Only one dispensary is allowed to open in each, meaning Moline could have up to four dispensaries, but never more than that.
"They didn't allow any of these establishments to go downtown," said City Administrator Bob Vitas. "They didn't want it downtown, though there are a lot of people who have asked about downtown locations and we've then had to direct them to the other location."
The dispensaries create additional tax revenue for the city.
"I think for this year, I think we budgeted maybe $400,000 in revenue we expected to see," Vitas said. "I think the most we expected to see was maybe $700,00 and we dialed it back when we did the budget waiting for that dispensary on Avenue of the Cities to open."
As of now, Vitas doesn't know of any other applicant plans to open dispensaries in the other two overlay districts.
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