Find property that's potentially eligible for a cannabis business establishment

Chicago Cityscape has four ways to find property eligible for a cannabis business establishment:

• (a) through the typical Property Finder in an Address Snapshot
• (b) through the typical Property Finder in a Place Snapshot
• (c) the Cannabis Compliance section in Address Snapshot
• (d) Site Selector's cannabis mode

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.

(a) Property Finder in Address Snapshot

Follow the instructions in this section to find properties near a given address that's potentially eligible to have a cannabis business establishment.

1. Look up an address to open its Address Snapshot report.
2. Click or tap on "Property Finder" in the Table of Contents or scroll down to "Property Finder" and click or tap the "Load Property Finder" button. A map and table will appear.
3. Click or tap inside the "Filter by zoning" field and type in "cannabis". Three cannabis business establishments will appear: Craft growing, cultivation, and dispensaries. Select the option for the type of business that will be established.
4. Click or tap the "Apply filters" button. After a moment, the table and map will update with results.

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.

(b) Property Finder in Place Snapshot

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.

1. Look up a Place Snapshot. Our database has nearly 40,000 Place Snapshots and it's possible to draw a Personal Place.
2. Click or tap on the "Property Finder" button below the big map. A table will appear.
3. Click or tap inside the "Filter by zoning" field and type in "cannabis". Three cannabis business establishments will appear: Craft growing, cultivation, and dispensaries. Select the option for the type of business that will be established.
4. Click or tap the "Apply filters" button. After a moment, the table and map will update with results.

(c) Cannabis Compliance section in Address Snapshot

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.

Cannabis Compliance map layers explained

The screenshot on the right shows an example Cannabis Compliance map after the "Load cannabis map" button has been clicked.

• A blue marker in the center represents the Address Snapshot location.
• Orange areas are Chicago zoning districts that allow cannabis business establishments.
• A red ring surrounds the Address Snapshot, representing the 500 feet distance required between the location and schools (City of Chicago law)
• A green ring surrounds the Address Snapshot, representing the 1,500 feet distance required between dispensaries and cultivation centers (State of Illinois law)
• Purple markers with a graduation cap symbol represent schools: Public schools have a lighter purple background, and private, parochial, and religious schools have a darker purple background. These markers have a blue 500 feet ring surrounding them.
• Green markers with a cannabis leaf symbol represent dispensaries: Proposed dispensaries have a ligher green background, and licensed dispensaries have a darker green background. These markers have a blue 1,500 feet ring surrounding them.
• Green markers with a leaf symbol represent growing and cultivation centers: Proposed dispensaries have a ligher green background, and licensed dispensaries have a darker green background. These markers have a blue 1,500 feet ring surrounding them.

How to use the Cannabis Compliance map

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).

(d) Site Selector's cannabis mode

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.