A Cook County judge has upheld the City of Chicago's approval for Guaranteed Dispensary to operate at the southwest corner of Ontario Street and Fairbanks Court in Streeterville, ending — at least for now — a bitter fight over whether the shop sits too close to a Montessori school and whether a zoning board member's family ties should have kept her from voting on it. The ruling lets the year-old dispensary continue business as usual just steps from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Judge Myron Mackoff ruled there was no proof that board member Helen Shiller knew her son had owned part of the business when she voted, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Mackoff also said he was not firmly convinced that a mistake was made regarding the site's distance from a nearby school, according to the same report. Nicholas Ftikas, who is connected to the dispensary, said operations at Guaranteed Dispensary were going well, per the Tribune's reporting.
The lawsuit, filed by Streeterville resident Beth Padera, argued the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals had ignored findings from the city's own legal counsel that Guidepost Montessori at 226 E. Illinois St. qualified as a school, according to Chicago Tribune reporting shared on Reddit. Padera's suit also echoed community concerns that dispensary traffic could impede ambulances racing to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, that same reporting shows. Critics separately told the Tribune the store would generate too much traffic and congestion in the dense downtown corridor.
A Contested 500-Foot Line
At the center of the fight is Chicago Zoning Ordinance Section 17-9-0129-3, which bars adult-use cannabis dispensaries from operating within 500 feet of a school, measured between the nearest property lines, according to the City of Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals. City Zoning Administrator Patrick Murphey had concluded the proposed shop was too close to the school, and the Tribune reports the site was found to sit 480 feet from Guidepost Montessori — inside the buffer. A school administrator had sent a letter stating the Montessori site provided education to grade schoolers along with daycare, per the Tribune, and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission had ruled in an unrelated case that the facility was a school.```
Helen Shiller countered that the Montessori daycare had not registered with the state as a school, and said state registration is not required for a site to be considered a school under the ordinance, according to the Tribune. In September 2024, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-2 to reverse Murphey's decision and approve the special-use permit, concluding Guidepost Montessori did not legally qualify as a school, per the city's resolution. Guidepost Montessori did not testify at the zoning hearing, the Tribune reported.
Questions Over a Board Member's Family Ties
The case drew added scrutiny because of Helen Shiller's family connections to the dispensary's ownership group. Her son, Brendan Shiller, was listed as the cannabis company's legal and compliance director and owned a 3% stake in Guaranteed Pharma LLC, according to the Tribune, alongside Ahmad Shaban at 45% and Ghaleb Barakat at 48%. Brendan Shiller sold his interest in the business in 2021 or 2022, before the Zoning Board of Appeals considered the special-use permit, the Tribune reports.
Helen Shiller said she was not aware her son had an ownership interest in the company and said Brendan Shiller was not involved in the city special-use-permit application, per the Tribune's reporting. She said she asked her son whether he was involved with the business and checked with Steve Berlin, then-executive director of the Chicago Board of Ethics, before concluding there was no conflict of interest and that she could be impartial. Helen Shiller acknowledged Brendan Shiller had worked as an attorney on the G.P. Green House state license lottery application, the Tribune reports, though she maintained he had no connection to the city permit fight.
Brendan Shiller told the Tribune he had nothing to do with the application or dispensary and said he no longer had any connection to the business, adding, “I'm rooting for Guaranteed to be the most successful dispensary in the city.” The Tribune also reports Brendan Shiller does legislative policy consulting for Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II and has won almost $1 million playing professional poker. Attorney Jenna Mileager argued in the case that Helen Shiller had a significant undisclosed conflict and misled the board, while Judge Mackoff ultimately found the potential conflict did not create enough bias to disqualify her, per the Tribune.
Political Backdrop and Community Pushback
Mayor Brandon Johnson nominated Shiller, who represented Chicago's Uptown neighborhood as 46th Ward alderwoman for 24 years from 1987 to 2011, to the Zoning Board of Appeals in July 2024, according to The Real Deal. The Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, led by president Deborah Gershbein, opposed the dispensary location and argued its proximity to Guidepost Montessori also violated liquor-license setback rules, according to Uptown Update. An online petition against the shop drew more than 800 signers, the Tribune reports.
2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, whose ward includes Streeterville, opposed the dispensary permit. During the zoning hearing, Ranj Mohip argued in favor of the board's approval, while former Alderman Roderick Sawyer testified in favor of Ayman Haswah, an owner of Guaranteed Investment Corp., which oversaw Guaranteed Pharma LLC, according to the Tribune. Guaranteed Investments was also reported as an applicant for a proposed craft cannabis grow house at 7401 S. State St., the Tribune noted.
A Dispensary Amid a Booming, Shifting Market
Guaranteed Dispensary opened in late 2025 in a three-story building that previously housed West Egg Cafe, per city zoning records. It now operates within a fast-growing statewide industry: Illinois has 288 cannabis stores statewide, per the Tribune.
The state market is also shifting on tax and product policy. Illinois recreational cannabis stores will be eligible to sell marijuana at the 1% medical tax rate to certified patients, and Governor J.B. Pritzker approved expanding that medical access to 37 additional dispensaries, the Tribune reported. Separately, Illinois law will generally ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products by November 2026.
