2019/07/22 - Mayor's Column: Upcoming Committee of the Whole on July 29
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach
On Monday, July 29th, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Public Safety Facility, we will be having a “Committee of the Whole” meeting. This meeting format allows the City Council to discuss broad policy issues and establish priorities for improving the community. I highly encourage residents to attend these meetings and participate in the discussion.
At the meeting on July 29th, we will be discussing the newly passed state laws. While most of the new laws have already been implemented, there are a few that will not start until January 2020.
The two new laws that will be discussed at the Committee of the Whole are expansion of gambling and recreational marijuana.
The state law that provides expansion of the existing gambling act will result in new casinos and sports wagering in the State. It also increases the number of allowed video gaming terminals per establishment to six. Currently, the City of O’Fallon only allows a maximum of five terminals per establishment. The City Council will have to decide whether to increase the maximum allowance to six terminals per establishment.
The most impactful decision that the Council will discuss revolves around recreational marijuana and the dispensaries of such.
On June 25, 2019, Illinois became the 11th state in America to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. Beginning on January 1, 2020, possession and recreational use of cannabis for individuals who are 21 years of age or older is no longer prohibited, subject to the following amounts:
- Thirty (30) grams of raw cannabis
- Five Hundred (500) milligrams or less of THC of cannabis-infused products (these are generally considered edibles).
- Five (5) grams of cannabis product in concentrated form (This is typically bottles, creams, and the like).
- Home cultivation of up to five cannabis plants per household is permitted only for medical cannabis patients.
The consumption of cannabis will be allowed on private property. However, the law prohibits the use of cannabis in public places, schools and childcare facilities among other locations. Municipalities may not restrict the private consumption or possession amounts of cannabis that is authorized by the new law.
However, the new law does provide an option for local governments to decide whether to allow dispensaries from locating within their communities. This decision will be the major topic of discussion at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on July 29th.
The O’Fallon City Council will have to discuss and decide whether to enact an ordinance prohibiting a cannabis establishment from locating in the corporate boundaries of O’Fallon, Illinois.
If the Council chooses not to prohibit a cannabis dispensary from locating in O’Fallon, they will need to hold further discussion on which zoning districts would allow for recreational cannabis businesses and what distance requirements and performance standards the establishments would have to meet.
I highly encourage you to reach out to your elected officials and let them know your thoughts on the new law. Also, please attend the Committee of the Whole Meeting on July 29th.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!