North Aurora Dispensary Looking For Solutions To Parking Issue

Recreational Pot Dispensary
Photo credit Verilife in North Aurora (WBBM Newsradio/Bernie Tafoya)
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The pot dispensing company that operates in North Aurora said it’s trying to come up with solutions to a parking issue that has put it on early bad terms with its business neighbors.  

Business owners near the Verilife operation on busy Route 31 in North Aurora complain they couldn’t find any parking in their own lots on Jan. 1, the first day pot could be legally sold recreationally.

They tell WBBM Newsradio they had to put up "no parking" signs, put down orange cones to block parking spaces, and even hired towing companies.

Still, they acknowledge the situation eased somewhat this week.  

Jeremy Unruh, director of public and regulatory affairs for Pharmacann, Verilife’s parent company, said around 1,300 people a day visit the dispensary, but he adds that "as the novelty of this wears off and this becomes a more traditional business operation, we’re expecting that the lines and frenzy surrounding these first few weeks will subside."

As it stands now, those who cannot fit into the parking lot outside the building Verilife shares with other businesses, must park two or three blocks to the north and walk along busy Route 31 which does not have any sidewalks.