OAK CREEK TOWN BOARD OKS GROWING OPERATION, DENIES
DISPENSARY

Medical Marijuana Business Will Take Over Building On Arthur
Street

Oak Creek -- Two medical marijuana growers from Summit County won the
blessing from the Oak Creek Town Board to open a growing operation and
commercial kitchen but were denied a dispensary.

Skyler Hartman and Joe McIntyre III requested a land-use change of
minor impact that would allow them to open a retail operation, kitchen
and growing operation at 240 Arthur St. in a building that used to
hold a granite business.

During several hours of discussion Thursday night, Oak Creek Town
Board members heard from several audience members in a packed meeting
room and eventually scrapped the portion of the application for a
retail space, as the town's Planning Commission also did Wednesday
night.

Under the new state law, grow operations must be affiliated with a
medical marijuana center -- a dispensary. The two men said they work
with several dispensaries in the state but are not in the kind of
relationship that would allow them to operate the grow operation
independently. However, Hartman said it could be as early as today
that they have the arrangement worked out.

The two said they plan to move from Summit County to Oak Creek to
oversee the operation.

McIntyre and Hartman originally planned to use the space to grow
medical marijuana for three dispensaries, including an on-site
dispensary. Board members expressed concern that the site would
violate the town's dispensary law because it would be within 1,000
feet of the Oak Creek Ice Rink.

Audience members repeatedly brought up the prospect of taxing the
business, increasing permit amounts or encouraging the proposed
business to make donations to the community.

"This can be a huge profit for the town if it's run properly,"
resident Renee Johnson said, adding that other cities across the
country are making money on medical marijuana businesses. "Make sure
you have it all laid out so we can come out ahead and not behind like
we tend to."

Town Board members told the public they couldn't tax the business
except through normal retail taxes from the dispensary. With the
growing operation as a wholesale business, the town receives income
only from licenses and employment taxes. Hartman said he plans to have
15 full-time employees.

Delay discouraged

Faced with the possibility of the Town Board tabling the discussion to
consider the retail space more closely, Hartman and McIntyre said they
had to have the paperwork in to the state soon and that they preferred
a decision on the kitchen and growing operation, even if they could
not open the dispensary. McIntyre said they have to have 500 pages of
paperwork to the state by the end of the month and could not wait for
a delay.

Board members Wendy Gus -tafson, Lawrence Jaconetta and Bernie Gagne
voted in favor of allowing the business, and Johrene Meyers-Story and
Chuck Wisecup voted against. Member Dawn Smith was not present.

Mary's expansion

Another expansion of a medical marijuana business was put on hold
after Town Board members expressed concerns about the business's location.

Jacob Wise, owner of the Mary's dispensary, originally submitted two
applications for grow sites. The first was at the same site as the
first applicant, 240 Arthur St., and another was for the former Black
Mountain Tavern, at the Circle R Building at Nancy Crawford Boulevard
and Sharp Street.

Wise first withdrew his application for Arthur Street because the
location went to McIntyre and Hartman.

Town Board members expressed concern about the location at the Circle
R Building because it houses apartments.

Wise asked the board to table the discussion so he could find another
site and return to the board. He said that in order to meet state
regulations, he had to have an application active. The board tabled
the discussion until September.