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With council members Judy Howell and Robin Boyd absent, the Winslow City Council approved two zoning changes last week. The changes will both allow the Medicine Room, Winslow’s medical marijuana facility, to expand their operation.
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The first was an amendment to the municipal general plan designating 2.87 acres at 2015 Old Route 66, commonly referred to 2015 W. Third St. as an industrial zone from a commercial zone.
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According to the Winslow Municipal Code, the industrial designation expressly allows medical marijuana cultivation, infusion, extraction and dispensary uses.
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The second change was an ordinance that allows the zone to be designated as industrial. Arizona Revised Statutes mandate that in order to change from commercial to industrial, zoning must be consistent with the city’s general plan. Hence, the amendment first, followed by the ordinance.
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The Medicine Room currently holds two conditional use permits that allow for every aspect of the operation.
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As is required by law, a public hearing was held before action was taken by the council. No one from the community came forward to speak either for or against the changes.
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Community Development Director Paul Ferris explained to the council alongside the attorney for the Medicine Room, Lindsay Schube that residents surrounding the property were made aware of the hearing. Further, according to Schube, “We held a neighborhood meeting in November where we invited the required area and Paul hand-delivered notification of our meeting to additional residents outside of the required area. No one came to our neighborhood meeting. We wanted to make sure we did more than was required but no one came.”
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Council member Bob Schlesinger said, “My concern is the nuisance in the neighborhood. The smell is a nuisance and part of the conditional use permit says that they would not be a nuisance. It is a fantastic facility, I just am concerned about comments that I get from the public complaining about the smell. Is this going to allow you to cultivate more?”
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Schube responded, “Yes. This industry is evolving and the owners of the property have made significant investment in trying to mitigate this issue. A condition of approval of our current conditional use permit is that we don’t produce odor. Will there be a little bit? Yes. In the same way that you walk by a nail salon and get odor, or a dairy farm, or Church’s Chicken. There should not be a lot and it is our commitment to continue to improve that.”
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Both the resolution and the ordinance passed with a 4-1 vote, Schlesinger entering the only vote in opposition.
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In other business, the council:
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* Approved the financial report for November 2018. Citywide revenues totaled $1.3 million, bringing year to date totals to $2.58 million. Citywide expenditures were $1.4 million bringing year to date totals to $3.6 million.
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* Approved a resolution changing the name of Frontage Road, extending north of and generally parallel with Interstate 40 from Hipkoe Drive to Mount Ararat Road, to Beale Wagon Road. The Historic Preservation Society voted to rename the route in honor of Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale.
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* Approved an intergovernmental agreement with the State of Arizona through its Department of Transportation (ADOT) for the Renaissance 6 Streetscape project. The project will improve lighting and sidewalk between Snider Avenue on the west to Cassandra Way on the east. Funding for the project will be from Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) exchange monies. If needed, the project is prepared to supplement the improvements using the one percent sales tax allocated to capital improvements.
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* Approved resolutions to allow the Lady Dawgs Softball Club and the Knuckles Baseball Club use of the city-owned softball and baseball fields. This is a yearly lease agreement that has been in effect since 2012. The lease contains no changes and requires the clubs to carry insurance as part of the agreement.
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The next scheduled meeting of the Winslow City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22, in the council chambers, located at 115 E. Second St.
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