SHILOH – Recreational marijuana has been an item of discussion for villages throughout Richland County since its recent legalization in Ohio.
The Village of Bellville recently imposed a temporary moratorium on cannabis businesses after an Ohio company sought a permit for a dispensary on State Route 97.
Lexington’s village council voted Jan. 15 to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the commercial retail sale of marijuana.
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Marijuana talks reach Shiloh on Tuesday
Recreational marijuana was discussed Tuesday during Shiloh’s village council meeting.
David Smallwood, a builder at DAS Builders in Mansfield, and Lexington resident Benjamin Mutti both attended the meeting to present information regarding the issue.
Smallwood said he was recently contacted by a small investment group interested in building a Level III cannabis cultivation facility.
He said he preferred not to name the investment group until or unless the project progresses.
According to Ohio Revised Code, the holder of a current and valid Level III adult use cultivator license may do any of the following: cultivate adult use cannabis; distribute, transfer and sell adult use cannabis to other adult use cannabis operators; and acquire seeds, clones, plants and other genetic material.
Smallwood, who helped build cannabis facilities in Michigan, said he’s not associated with the investment group interested in constructing a facility and his role in this is simply as a builder.
He said his purpose for coming to Shiloh was to look for property.
“I thought I’d come up here and speak to the Shiloh people to see what concerns (they have) or where they stand on having a cannabis company around here,” he said.
Facility would only be used for cannabis cultivation
If the appropriate space of property was found, Smallwood said the indoor facility would likely be around 10,000 square feet in scale, of which 5,000 would be canopy space.
Canopy space is the designated area at a cultivation facility that contains mature plants at any point in time, according to Law Insider.
Smallwood said the proposed facility would only be used to cultivate cannabis.
“Everything that would go from this facility would be going to other dispensaries that are around the state,” he said.
“It would just be cultivating. There’s not going to be any selling of any cannabis material there to anywhere local that you can go.”
Furthermore, he explained his search for potential property space would most likely place a possible facility outside of Shiloh village limits.
If so, the issue would ultimately need to be addressed by the Cass Township Trustees.
As of Tuesday, Smallwood said he hasn’t spoken yet with any officials in Cass Township, but wanted to begin visiting communities within the township limits to hear their opinions.
“I was more looking on the outskirts of Shiloh, but I’d still want to come here and still speak,” he said. “No company wants to be in an area where people are pretty proactive of trying to push them out.”
Mutti, Shiloh residents voice concerns
Shiloh residents in attendance raised concerns about the facility, including security and regulations.
Similar areas of concern were voiced by Mutti, who also attended Lexington’s village council meeting on Jan. 15.
Mutti urged Shiloh councilmembers to consider cannabis legislation similar to pieces recently passed in surrounding communities such as Lexington, Bellville and Ashland.
“You guys have the opportunity, as leaders, where you can tell the next generation ‘we took our stint. I don’t know what’s going to happen 10 or 15 years down the road, but I took a stand as a councilmember, that I wanted to pass emergency legislation,’” he said.
“Other communities are doing this, so they’ve gone ahead of you and so, I encourage that (legislation).”
No actions regarding recreational marijuana were taken by Shiloh Village Council following Tuesday’s discussion.