CHICAGO — Recreational marijuana sales are set to begin next year, and some of the potential store locations getting scouted suggest Illinoisans aren’t the only customers cannabis companies hope to attract.

Amid the debate over proposed zoning rules that would ban weed sales in much of Chicago’s downtown, cannabis companies also are eyeing sites far beyond city limits. Illinois border towns say they’re fielding calls from operators in search of sites that would make it easy for customers to cross into their communities to shop, bringing tax dollars with them. None of the neighboring states have legalized recreational marijuana.

One company already has received the go-ahead. South Beloit, Illinois, approved plans Tuesday for a store operated by Chicago-based Cresco Labs to open just off Interstate 90, less than a mile from the Wisconsin border.

“It’s the perfect site,” said South Beloit Mayor Ted Rehl. “Location, location, location.”

Illinois’ new marijuana law allows municipalities to ban recreational marijuana sales, and many are grappling with whether the tax revenue from weed sales will outweigh the potential downsides. But with the start of legal sales fast approaching on Jan. 1, there’s an incentive for towns — particularly along the border — to decide quickly.

The benefits of drawing out-of-state consumers could start to evaporate if Illinois’ neighbors move toward legalization, said Dan Tausk, a partner at Mid-America Real Estate Group, a commercial real estate firm.

Sales data from marijuana stores in Washington suggest there can be an advantage for those operating close to state lines, where there’s often less competition than in urban centers, even after a neighboring state legalizes the plant.

Officials in Wadsworth and Winthrop Harbor, which also border Wisconsin, said they’d fielded calls from marijuana companies scouting potential store sites and see neighboring states as untapped markets. Both municipalities plan to impose a 3% tax on pot sales. Wadsworth voted to do so last week, and Winthrop Harbor’s village board is expected to vote next month.

“We are strategically located, we are a border community … on some higher-traffic corridors,” said Wadsworth village administrator Moses Amidei, who added that dispensary operators still need village approval before opening.

There has been little opposition to the possibility of weed sales in Winthrop Harbor, said village administrator Gregory Jackson.

Jackson estimates the tax on weed sales could generate $60,000 to $100,000 in revenue annually.

Marijuana companies are likely focusing on communities that have made it clear they welcome dispensaries’ business, said Brad Belden, president of real estate firm Core Asset Services.

“They go where the friendly towns are, and where they want the tax dollars,” he said.