Yorkville will finally get its first legal cannabis dispensary after the city council approved a permit for Good Behavior Cannabis Dispensary, a shop proposed for construction on Saravanos Drive. The vote caps years of failed attempts by other cannabis operators to break into the Kendall County city, and it came with one dissenting vote and at least one resident speaking out against it.
Attorney Andrew Scott, representing the project, told the council the dispensary hopes to open by the end of 2026 or in early 2027, according to WSPY News. The application, filed by Kevin Bethyo of Prairie Retail Holdings, LLC, calls for a 2,000-square-foot building with 34 off-street parking spaces on a 0.93-acre parcel in Yorkville's B-3 General Business District, as reported by Shaw Local. The Saravanos Drive site sits near Route 47 and Route 71 in a commercial stretch of the city, per the same outlet.
A Site That Finally Cleared the City's Buffer Rules
Getting to this point wasn't easy for cannabis operators eyeing Yorkville. In October 2024, the city's Planning and Zoning Commission denied a variance for Progressive Treatment Solutions Corp., which wanted to open a dispensary just 460 feet from Parkview Christian Academy — short of the required 500-foot buffer — after the school threatened litigation, Shaw Local reported. That same company came back in January 2025 with a second proposal at 344 E. Veterans Parkway in the Yorkville Marketplace, operating under a city ordinance that caps Yorkville at exactly one adult-use dispensary, the outlet noted.
Good Behavior avoided those pitfalls. The applicants said the Saravanos Drive location was more than 500 feet from schools or related institutions.
ID Checks and a Ban on Underage Access
Scott told the council the dispensary has built-in safeguards meant to keep out underage customers. Per WSPY News, customers are greeted and asked to present a state ID or passport, which is run through a machine connected to government systems, then checked again at the point of purchase. Scott said the machine connects directly to government databases and can immediately flag a fake ID.
The dispensary is expected to employ 25 to 30 people, Scott said, and could generate between $200,000 and $300,000 in sales tax revenue for Yorkville, according to the same report. Under state law, Illinois residents 21 and older can legally purchase and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of concentrate, and 500 milligrams of THC in infused products, per the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
One No Vote, One Resident's Objection
Not everyone on the council was on board. Alderman Chris Funkhouser cast the lone vote against approving the permit, according to WSPY News. During the public comment period, Yorkville resident Molly Krempski spoke against the proposed development, arguing that the mere existence of cannabis activity isn't reason enough for government to expand access to it, regulate it, or collect revenue from it, per the same report.
Local institutional support offset some of that pushback. The Association for Individual Development, a behavioral health service provider operating near the proposed site, submitted a formal letter in September endorsing Good Behavior as a responsible corporate neighbor, according to a City of Yorkville document. AID provides community mental health and supportive services across Kendall County, the filing states.
Catching Up With Neighboring Towns
Until now, Yorkville had no operating adult-use cannabis dispensaries, even as neighboring Kendall County municipalities like Oswego and Montgomery already hosted active shops such as Market 96 and Ivy Hall, Shaw Local reported. Those towns have active cannabis shops, while Illinois municipalities decide individually whether to allow dispensaries.
Illinois municipalities are permitted to impose a local sales tax of up to 3% on gross adult-use cannabis receipts, in increments of 0.25%, under the Illinois Municipal Cannabis Retailers' Occupation Tax Law. In its application filings, Good Behavior projected that if the dispensary reaches $20,000 in gross daily sales — slightly above the statewide average of $17,000 per day — Yorkville's 3% municipal tax could yield roughly $219,000 in annual revenue for the city, Shaw Local reported.
Yorkville's municipal code bans on-site consumption at dispensaries outright, and Good Behavior stated in its city filings that any customer caught attempting to consume on-site will face an immediate ban and referral to law enforcement. The article was authored by Ethan Kruger.
