North Cook News

The Mount Prospect Village Board is considering a conditional use permit for a proposed tobacco and cigar shop in the old Mount Prospect Bike shop which has been vacant for many years.

Michael Wasserman, who has been a cigar enthusiast for almost 50 years, petitioned his plans for the business at 506 E Northwest Highway to the board at its Dec. 20 meeting.

“Cigar smoking has become more of a refined cultural experience during the pandemic, many people, probably all of us, were locked in our houses at that time,” Wasserman said at the meeting. “Cigar smoking became very popular, and one of the advantages was you could do it right in your house and you could order the cigars online and have them delivered to your house, contact free. Back in the '90s, the cigar industry experienced a very big cigar boom. Before that, the cigar industry produced 175 million premium hand-rolled cigars every single year. During the cigar boom, that number ballooned to as high as 250 [million] cigars. In 2021, the number of imports of cigars into this country will exceed 525 million cigars. It is at an all-time high.”

Wasserman assured the board that he would have four different air filters in the business with each of them capable of purifying the whole space by themselves. The board appreciated his presentation and felt reassured about the safety and quality of the shop. They respected that his shop will be a place for hobby enthusiasts to sit and talk together about cigars and that the owner would be doing everything in his power to make it a welcoming and safe environment, as well as maintain the peace and cleanliness of all the areas directly outside the shop.

“Cigar smoking is something that many people are doing and enjoy with people who are doing the same,” Wasserman said.

While zoning for the building is currently for retail, there is enough parking spaces to meet code. The planning commission had denied the permit by just one vote.