O’Fallon mayor says city council will rethink marijuana sales ban if yes vote holds
Voters in O’Fallon and Highland had their say over two advisory referendums Tuesday, each aimed at giving city leaders direction on whether to allow adult-use cannabis dispensaries to operate in their communities.
While Highland voters rejected the referendum, O’Fallon residents in favor of local marijuana sales turned out with a narrow majority. Unofficial results from the St. Clair County clerk’s office show final vote tally of 2,750 in favor of the referendum and 2,487 against it.
O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach said the city is still waiting on official results. If they hold up, he’ll ask the city council to consider a voter to lift the ban on recreational cannabis sales in O’Fallon.
“We’ll wait until we get this result certified and then decide whether we want to have another vote to lift the ban we have in place,” Roach said.
The advisory referendums in both cities came from votes from each city council. In September, O’Fallon’s city council banned recreational sales ahead of statewide legalization. After some backlash, the council approved a referendum for Tuesday’s ballot as a “good faith gesture” on what Roach at the time called a divisive issue.
“We want to hear from the people,” he said.
Recreational cannabis sales are legal in the state of Illinois, but municipalities and counties can decide whether sales will be allowed within city or county limits. In St. Clair County, sales are allowed. Madison County banned sales in unincorporated areas of the county, leaving the issue up to individual municipalities.
In Collinsville, Illinois Supply and Provision recorded roughly $5 million in sales in its first month of operation in January. According to St. Louis Public Radio, Collinsville received approximately $125,000 in sales tax revenue from the dispensary from that month alone.
The money from marijuana sales tax goes toward capital projects in the city.
Roach said he wasn’t surprised the vote was close but hadn’t had time to look over which precincts voted for or against.
Turnout for the vote in O’Fallon was low, with only 32% of the city’s 1,097 registered voters casting ballots.
Roach said movement on the issue won’t be immediate due to the current issues with COVID-19, which he said has the city swamped in other “front-and-center” issues.
“It’s going to be something we’ll ask the council to look at and see what they want to do with it,” he said. “But right now we have other concerns.”