The Danville City Council voted Tuesday to approve two ordinance amendments pertaining to cannabis-consumption lounges. The same two amendments were voted down 7-5 (2 absent) during the last meeting on Feb. 18, but the council reconsidered, which allowed for the two previously absent council members the opportunity to vote. Needing 8 votes to pass, the City Council voted 9-5 to approve the ordinances that now allows licensed dispensaries in Danville to host on-site consumption of cannabis between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Owners and stakeholders of Seven Point dispensary originally brought the ordinance changes to the City Council, so the dispensary could host an onsite cannabis-consumption lounge at its Lynch Road location. Alderpersons Carolyn Wands, Sharon Pickering, Darren York, Eve Ludwig, and James Poshard voted against the motion. Alderpersons Robert Williams, Ed Butler, Rick Strebing, Heidi Wilson, Mike O’Kane, Tricia Teague, Mike Puhr, Jon Cooper, and Bob Iverson voted for the motion.

The City Council also approved a “safety” amendment for drivers leaving the lounge. The amendment changed the wording from, “A Licensed Cannabis Consumption Facility shall not permit unsealed cannabis to leave the facility, except as approved by the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act as amended” to “A Licensed Cannabis Consumption Facility shall not permit unsealed cannabis to leave the facility unless the cannabis is in a reasonably secured, and sealed container with tamper evident tape, that cannot be immediately accessible to the driver of the vehicle leaving the facility.”

“Throughout the recent process of requesting members of the city council to support and initiate a cannabis consumption lounge effort, we feel very fortunate to have made so many great connections with so many stakeholders in the City of Danville,” said Seven Point CEO, Brad Zerman. Zerman has toured all seven of the planning and zoning commissioners through the store, as well as most of the city councilpersons and the mayor.

“We have numerous local Danville residence that work in the dispensary, and it was really cool to have all these stakeholders come through the store,” Zerman said. “We’ve been interested in bringing new and interesting things to the City of Danville, specifically East Danville, on the border. We want to create something unique that draws people into the store even if they weren’t initially interested in cannabis.”

Zerman plans to bring in a food truck and said the increase in sales would be additional revenue for the City of Danville.

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