Pubdate: Fri, 11 Aug 2017
Source: Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Copyright: 2017 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: Mark Reiter

MARIJUANA CULTIVATION WAREHOUSE APPROVED FOR NORTH TOLEDO

The site of the proposed warehouse is vacant land at Jason Street and
Cassandra Drive.

A Cleveland-based company that has applied for a state license to grow
medical marijuana won approval Thursday from the Toledo Plan
Commission to build a 60,000-square-foot cultivation warehouse near
Alexis Road and Suder Avenue.

Les Hollis, a consultant for Lake Erie Compassion Care, said the
proposed facility would employ as many as 60 people, generating a $2.5
million to $3 million annual payroll.

It would be capable of harvesting $25 million to $30 million of
wholesale medical marijuana each year, Mr. Hollis said.

The site of the proposed warehouse is vacant land at Jason Street and
Cassandra Drive, within a half-mile of the Michigan-Ohio border.

Compassion Care is among 185 firms competing for two dozen cultivation
licenses, according to an applicant list provided by the Ohio
Department of Commerce. Licenses for growers are expected to be
announced in November.

The project - the first to go before the local plan commission - does
not need zoning approval because the 27-acre parcel is zone for
industrial use, the zoning classification permitted for
medical-marijuana grow operations.

"I don't think anywhere in northwest Ohio you could have found a piece
of property more appropriate for this operation," commissioner Ken
Fallows said.

Mr. Hollis said the facility would be equipped with security cameras
to provide 24-hour surveillance of the warehouse and adjacent land and
staffed with a security workforce.

"It will be the most secure facility in the state short of a jail," he
told the commissioners.

The developer of the facility and land owner is 4M Investors
LLC.

Mr. Hollis said if Compassion Care receives state approval for
marijuana cultivation, the company will apply for a license to process
harvested plants into products for medical uses.

"It makes sense for all that work to be done in the same facility," he
said.

The planning commission staff recommended approval of the site plans
for the project with 52 conditions.

The plan commission also recommended approval of site plans for
construction of a new restaurant and bar at 5060 Monroe St., where a
Lone Star Steakhouse restaurant and Pizza Hut formerly stood.

Twin Peaks, owned by Motor City Peaks LLC, would be the first to
locate in Ohio, said Michael Ansara, a principal with the company.

The company, which owns six Twin Peaks restaurants in the Detroit
area, plans to begin construction this year and open in 2018.

House Bill 523, which legalized medical marijuana in Ohio, took effect
Sept. 8, 2016. The legislation left it up to state agencies to
determine the rules for medical marijuana's cultivation, processing,
and sale.
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MAP posted-by: Matt