Tinley Park OKs adult-use cannabis store at site of former barbecue restaurant on Harlem Avenue
TINLEY PARK, Ill. — An adult-use cannabis company is coming to Tinley Park.
The Village of Tinley Park Board of Trustees approved three ordinances Tuesday, April 19, that will allow Ascend Illinois, LLC, to occupy the former Bandana’s Bar-B-Q site located at 16200 Harlem Ave. The ordinances — all approved by 5-0 votes with Trustee Dennis Mahoney absent — included changing Village Code to mirror the state’s cannabis and drug paraphernalia laws and eliminating a requirement to operate a restaurant on the 4,300-square-foot property.
“The petitioner requests a special use for a substantial deviation from the Park Place [planned unit development] to remove the requirement of a restaurant use on the property,” Trustee Michael Mueller said during the discussion. “Any uses listed in the underlying B-3 district would then be allowed.”
Mueller said the Tinley Park Plan Commission held a public hearing on April 7 to discuss the change and voted 7-0 to recommend the Village Board approve the special use.
“A lot of people were involved in this, and it has been a long time in the making,” said Mueller, prior to the final vote.
He thanked Village Manager Patrick Carr, Assistant Village Manager Hannah Lipman, Community Development Director Kimberly Clarke and the Plan Commission for their “hard work to get this before us tonight.”
While the Illinois Cannabis Regulations and Tax Act was signed into law in June 2019 and became effective in January 2020, Tinley Park did not adopt zoning and licensing regulations allowing for an adult-use dispensary as a special use until August 2020.
As part of the special use, Ascend Illinois will make changes to the north and east facades of the building with “a curtain wall and wrapping canopy, and the walls will include new Nichiha fiber cement and staining of existing brick,” per Village documents.
The proposed hours of operation for the business are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. According to Village documents, the business estimates receiving 600 customers daily.
How do you feel about Tinley Park allowing an adult-use cannabis company to occupy the former Bandana’s Bar-B-Q on Harlem Avenue?