The Joliet City Council appears interested in something it has resisted in the past: a cannabis dispensary on Jefferson Street.

The council votes Tuesday on a proposed Veltiste Wellness dispensary at 2121 W. Jefferson St.

On Monday, Veltiste CEO Dev Patel told council members at a workshop meeting that the dispensary would likely generate $1 million a month in net sales and $360,000 in cannabis taxes for the city.

“We believe in carrying something for everybody,” Patel said at one point in response to a comment by Mayor Terry D’Arcy that Veltiste appeared to be “very strong on medical” uses for cannabis.

Councilman Joe Clement urged Patel to hire Joliet police for security if the store is approved for Jefferson Street.

Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra said her son’s friends travel to the Veltiste dispensary in Carol Stream.

“They have the lowest prices in the state,” Ibarra said, adding that a Joliet dispensary “would draw people from other municipalities.”

Ibarra also said she got “hundreds of emails” in support of the Veltiste dispensary and “only two or three against it.”

Councilman Larry Hug, who in the past has suggested a third dispensary in Joliet would not add to city tax revenue because it would only draw business away from the two others in town, asked Patel how much of the Veltiste business is likely to “cannibalize” from sales already in Joliet.

“We would likely draw more people that do not shop in Joliet than cannibalize,” Patel said.

If the council were to vote for the dispensary, it would go against a unanimous recommendation against it from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

It would also veer from a decision made in 2022 to reject a dispensary a block away at the former Bakers Square restaurant site at 2211 W. Jefferson St.

Previously, the council refused to reduce a residential buffer zone to accommodate cannabis dispensaries looking for sites on Jefferson Street.

The Veltiste dispensary would be at a former NAPA Auto Parts store not located near residences.

No one from the public spoke against the Veltiste proposal.

Three people spoke for it, including Roger Dillman who said many Joliet customers leave town to buy cannabis in New Lenox because it’s closer than the two Rise dispensaries in the city.

“Right now, our community is giving hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to New Lenox,” Dillman said. “Let’s get one on this side of town.”