MILAN, Ill. — Rock Island leaders released their plans for the first dispensary in town Tuesday night. That would move the Milan Nature's Treatment of Illinois (NTI) location to Rock Island.
Milan village officials said NTI generates tens of thousands of dollars for the village every month.
Mayor Duane Dawson says the owners of NTI have done business in the village for years. The dispensary enjoys incentives like a tax increment financing district, or TIF, which gives the business back 75-80% of its property taxes to pay for development costs.
Village Administrator Steve Seiver said they contribute plenty in sales taxes. He said the 12-month average is about $145,000 a month.
But Dawson said something changed.
"They were unhappy because we did not make them the exclusive cannabis dispensary in Milan," Dawson said.
He said NTI wanted the village to prevent a new dispensary, Terrace Cannabis Dispensary, from moving in down the road. He said the village was worried about potential legal action from the new dispensary.
Now, NTI plans on moving out, taking the sales tax revenue with it. But Seiver and Dawson aren't concerned with the loss.
"We certainly hate to see the loss of any of that, but on the other hand, it's not that there won't be a dispensary present in Milan," Seiver said. "We have a new one which has opened, so we'll pick up some or all of that loss."
According to one of the developers of the Rock Island project, Jeff Hughbanks, employees will be moved to the Rock Island locations. And once the buildings are empty, Seiver said other businesses can take over.
"Every time a business relocates, we wish them well, but it opens up an opportunity for other businesses to come in town," Seiver said. "The physical facilities are still there, the ground’s there, the buildings are there, the infrastructure's there. So it’s an opportunity to bring jobs back into the community that way as well."
Dawson said the village has lost businesses before, but it's kept on growing.
"We're gonna come through this," Dawson said. "There will be some loss of revenue for a while, but I fully expect it to be built back up to where we were."
Matt Stern, an owner of NTI, has a different view of the situation.
He said in a statement NTI has been in talks with Milan for the last year and a half about plans to open a grow facility. He claims the village still allowed the second dispensary to open. That dispensary, Terrace, is too close to where the grow facility would have been, forcing NTI to scrap its plans.
"We have always been loyal business partners in Milan and have made significant contributions to the City. However, it seems that we have reached an impasse," Stern wrote. "This has led to NTI making a decision in the best interest of our patients and customers in order for to continue to provide top tier patient care and best in class customer service to the people who visit us from all corners of the state."
He also said NTI has been under space constraints at its Milan location, and Rock Island offered the dispensary the space it needs.
Hughbanks and Stern are also moving Stern Beverage from Milan to Rock Island. That's an Anheuser-Busch distribution center. The project will be on the site of the former Campbell Sports Complex.
Stern said NTI and Stern Beverage will stay open until the new facilities are ready.