Knowledge Base
Tutorials, guides, and videos to using Chicago Cityscape
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Chicago Cityscape has four ways to find property eligible for a cannabis business establishment:
This article will demonstrate all three methods, but the usefulness outside of the City of Chicago will be lessened due to the lack of local zoning maps for those municipalities.
Follow the instructions in this section to find properties near a given address that's potentially eligible to have a cannabis business establishment.
The properties shown on the map represent those that are within the specified radius of the Address Snapshot and within the specific Chicago zoning district that allows the selected cannabis business establishment.
To increase the search area, choose a new distance in the "Change the search area" dropdown menu and click or tap the "Apply filters" button.
More filters are available in Place Snapshot. Draw a Personal Place around the desired search area and then following the directions in the following section to access the additional filters.
If following these instructions, additionally review "Cannabis add-on in Address Snapshot", section (c), below.
Follow the instructions in this section to find properties in a given area that's potentially eligible to have a cannabis business establishment. Property Finder within Place Snapshot has more filters than Property Finder within Address Snapshot, including selecting for proximity to transit and lot area.
In each Address Snapshot report, the Cannabis Compliance map shows additional information helpful to selecting a location in Chicago, by depicting the location of nearby schools (both public and private), dispensaries that are licensed or proposed, and eligible zoning districts.
With the same Address Snapshot report open that was used for section (a), click or tap the "Load cannabis map" button (see screenshot to the right). Several map layers will load after a moment, which we explain in the following section.
The screenshot on the right shows an example Cannabis Compliance map after the "Load cannabis map" button has been clicked.
The goal is to find a location that is within an orange area, and outside of all blue rings. Then, the zoning district of that orange area needs to be reviewed to determine if it's the zoning district that allows the particular desired cannabis business establishment. Dispensaries are allowed in C1, C2, C2, DC, and DX. Craft grower, infuser, processor are allowed in C1, C2, C2, DC, DX, M2, M3, and PMDs. Cultivation centers are allowed in M2, M3, and PMDs. Planned developments may also list cannabis business establishments as a permitted use.
In addition to the map, there are four labels above the map (under "What's allowed") that give you a quick-to-read indication of the zoning eligibility at this address. The labels – shown in the above screenshot – indicate which cannabis business establishments are allowed in that location based purely on the zoning district, and how far away the location is to the nearest residential zoning district (R and DR). The distance to the nearest residential zoning district matters to craft growers who may be able to locate "as of right" in an M2, M3, and PMD district (see 17-9-0129(6) in the municipal code).
Access Site Selector's cannabis mode.
Site Selector is where Chicago Cityscape shows a citywide zoning map that is searchable by land use, building type, or business category, so that you don't have to read the Chicago zoning code to know what zoning districts allow what you're trying to open or build.
Cannabis mode makes it even faster to use Site Selector by presenting only four options for the four distinct cannabis business establishments recognized in the Chicago zoning code. Click an option and a zoning map of eligible zoning districts will appear.
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