MAYFIELD, Ohio — With the state of Ohio set to begin licensing businesses in June to legally sell, grow and/or process adult-use recreational marijuana, Village Council had a decision to make when it met Monday (May 20).
Ohio voters, last November, approved recreational marijuana sales to adults, but state law states that municipalities can prohibit such operations, or limit them, within their borders.
Mayor Brenda Bodnar has recommended banning such operations in Mayfield, but council has yet to arrive at a consensus. Council, instead, decided Monday upon passing a 30-day moratorium on local marijuana operations.
During Monday’s meeting, council heard in-person from community members, and read emails from other residents, all against allowing marijuana operations in Mayfield.
While retail sales of cannabis cannot take place be within 500 feet of a school, in an email to cleveland.com, Bodnar noted that there are sites along Wilson Mills Road that could be used for retail sales of recreational marijuana.
“These sites, which are entryway and high visibility areas of Mayfield Village, may not be appropriate for retail sales of marijuana,” she stated.
“Some areas along Beta Drive could also be used for commercial growing and production of cannabis. I have serious concerns about this.
“These uses can take up thousands of square feet and result in very little income tax revenue to the Village,” she stated. “At this time, we are actively seeking businesses which can employ many people with good paying positions here.
“While this will take time, we are not in a position to have to settle for minimal returns over the long haul.”
Bodnar added, “Moreover, based on our research, a retail establishment would bring few and low-paying jobs to the Village, resulting in minimal income tax revenues.
On May 16, Economic Development Manager John Marquart and Law Director Diane Calta sent a letter to council discussing the adult-use marijuana situation and council’s options.
The letter includes information from Eastlake Mayor David Spotton, who told of the operations in that city of Buckeye Relief, a licensed cultivator and processor located since 2019 in a 35,000-square-foot building on Curtis Boulevard, off State Route 2. No sales take place at the building.
Buckeye Relief has been producing products for legal medical marijuana use, and is looking to expand, from about 35 current employees to perhaps 100, when it begins also producing for recreational marijuana businesses.
In the letter, Spotton notes that Buckeye Relief does not produce taxes in an amount more than any other business that employs warehouse/assembly workers, and that there have been a “handful of complaints” about odor emanating from the building.
Bodnar wrote that, “While processing facilities are replete with filters and scrubbers, they still emit an odor in the local area. Thus, businesses and neighborhoods surrounding any processing facility would be subject to that smell.
“Beta Drive is adjacent to, and west of, nearby residential neighborhoods in the Village.”
She said that council has expressed a hesitancy to ban commercial growing and processing based on speculation that the village could take in a sizeable amount of tax money from marijuana-related ventures.
“Municipalities are not the ones profiting from cannabis,” Bodnar stated.
Council is expected to make a decision when the moratorium expires June 19.
Finance director retires
Bodnar and council honored 15-year Finance Director Ron Wynne Monday upon his retirement.
“Ron has been an invaluable asset to the village, and we are sad to see him go,” Bodnar said.
Council approved on April 15 the hiring of Angie S. Rich as Wynne’s successor.
“Ms. Rich is a CPA, has the financial experience and knowledge that we are seeking, and I feel confident that she also has experience with many of the extrinsic items that are helpful to this position,” Bodnar stated in a release. “I feel that her personality is well-suited to the Village. She is professional, while being friendly and personable, and I believe she will work well with Department Heads, Council and staff.
“I welcome her to the Village and wish her many years of success here.”
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