WEST RIDGE — A cannabis dispensary group is looking to open in a Peterson Avenue building where an earlier dispensary proposal was rejected.

Eagle Dispensaries of Illinois is asking Ald. Andre Vazquez (40th) for a zoning change to open a dispensary at 2415 W. Peterson Ave., representatives said during a virtual community meeting last week. It would be the first dispensary in the 40th Ward and in West Ridge.

This follows a similar proposal from Kaneh Group, which sought permission to open a dispensary at the same location last year. That group was made up of nine former Chicago police officers, which led to neighbors questioning whether ex-police should profit from legal cannabis after decades of enforcing the drug’s criminalization.

Vasquez ultimately sided with neighbors and rejected Kaneh Group’s proposal.

The site is currently home to an empty one-story commercial building with 10 parking spots, according to the alderman’s office.

Eagle Dispensaries would keep the same building footprint and retain nine parking spaces, with employee parking spots on the other side of the building in an empty lot that has a billboard, according to the group.

The business name would be Dispensary Den, co-owner Jim Kaufman said during the meeting.

Kaufman vowed to be a good corporate citizen and be “in touch” with the community. Kaufman is based in Arizona, where he advocated for the legalization of medicinal marijuana, he said. He’s opened six dispensaries in Arizona since 2012, he said.

Frankie Terry, of the South Side, is the other co-owner of Eagle Dispensaries and is also the social equity applicant for the dispensary, she said during the meeting.

The state’s social equity cannabis program seeks to boost minority participation in the legal cannabis industry after years of the war on drugs adversely impacting minority communities.

Kaufman and Terry were connected through a mutual friend and have spent the past couple years getting their business license in order and finding a good location, they said.

If their zoning change is approved by Vasquez’s office, it would still need to be passed by the city’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards and then voted on by the full City Council. It also requires a special-use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The dispensary could open this year pending the zoning change and a successful construction permit process, according to the group.

The 40th Ward office has a survey available online for West Ridge residents to share their feedback. They have until Jan. 19. A recording of last week’s meeting is available here.

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: