Carson City Supervisors reject cannabis expansion into northern Carson City
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 03/02/2023 - 1:23pm
Carson City Supervisors voted Thursday to deny an application that would allow cannabis locations to expand into northern Carson City.
Previously, the allotted number of cannabis locations in Carson City was raised from two to four. The two current cannabis locations, RISE and Zen Leaf (formerly Sierra Well/Sierra Wellness) are both owned by Green Thumb Industries (GTI), a multinational cannabis company.
Cannabis locations are zoned to specific areas within Carson City, which GTI through their representative Will Adler has requested to expand into the North Carson City area. Adler stated that clustering cannabis locations in one area of town is detrimental to both the established businesses as well as the community as a whole.
The Planning Commission approved the zoning expansion by a 4-3 vote in late January.
Three members of the community gave public comment against the ordinance, stating that cannabis is akin to opioids and that northern Carson City should remain “drug free.”
Adler responded that GTI has a record in Carson City of operating in a way that does not impact the areas it exists within.
“They’re here to not be impactful and here to bring the same service and quality they’ve done before. To this date they’ve never had a violation or police activity at their facility because they run a tight ship," he said.
Carson City Community Development Director Hope Sullivan reminded supervisors that while Adler was advocating on behalf of his client, this ordinance, if accepted, would open up zoning to any applicant — not only GTI.
Supervisor Lisa Schuette asked Adler what the usage was like for GTI products, and Adler said that the most common use from their customers was to aid sleep.
“People use it for sleep aid almost 2 to 1, especially with edibles,” Adler said. “A lot of veterans use it exclusively for that purpose. People are also using (cannabis) to replace opioids or anxiety medication.”
Adler also said that they have a significant number of customers who only use CBD products — products that do not contain THC, the psychoactive element within cannabis.
Mayor Lori Bagwell reminded the board and the audience that this ordinance was a zoning issue, not an issue regarding cannabis itself.
“This is a zoning decision,” Bagwell said. “That’s simply all it is. Is this store allowed in this area? And that’s all there is here today.”
Supervisor Maurice White said he took issue with GTI’s claims that clustering cannabis businesses in only one area of the town would be detrimental to the locations already in business.
White said that restaurants in the area of the Carson Mall are clustered with no issue.
“Clustering does work, if you have the right marketing,” White said. “I don’t find proof or persuasion that leads me to believe this should be approved.”
White said that zoning changes should also never be made outside of a Master Plan review regardless of the issue at hand. He did not specify which findings of fact he took issue with.
Supervisor Curt Horton said that he has no intention of ever supporting issues that deal with cannabis. He also did not specify which findings of fact he took issue with.
Supervisor Stacey Giomi moved to deny the application stating that he had an issue that deals with land use compatibility. However, he did not further explain what he found to be incompatible in the zoning.
The vote to deny was unanimous.
