State regulators will take up a hot-button issue next month that has divided local leaders: Whether to allow a medical marijuana dispensary to move to a spot near the border of Jacksonville and Cabot.
At its Aug. 20 meeting, the state Medical Marijuana Commission will consider whether to allow Greenlight Dispensary at 7303 Kanis Road in Little Rock to relocate to 7418 T.P. White Drive in Cabot. Though the site has a Cabot mailing address, records show the site was annexed from Pulaski County into the city of Jacksonville in 2011.
The proposal was the source of debate earlier this year, but the medical marijuana commission tabled the issue in March, saying it wanted to hold off on relocations until its annual permit renewal process was completed. The commission must consider renewals for all marijuana businesses by June 30 each year.
Commission spokesman Scott Hardin said Tuesday that the board will take up the matter again next month. The commission will hold a separate regularly scheduled meeting today, but will not consider the proposed move until August.
The commission has received letters opposing the move from state Sen. Brian Evans and state Rep. Ricky Hill, both Cabot Republicans, who wrote to the commissioners in November before the matter had even appeared on the board’s agenda.
Evans and Hill said they did not want a dispensary to locate in the city of Cabot and cited concerns by “businesses and industry leaders.”
Sherwood Mayor Mary Jo Heye-Townsell also submitted a letter against the move, but for a different reason. She said the sales tax revenue generated by Natural Relief Dispensary in Sherwood is a “vital revenue stream we use to provide city resources.” The relocation of a dispensary to the nearby Jacksonville/Cabot area would result in an “adverse economic impact” for Sherwood, she said.
Jacksonville Mayor Jeff Elmore, First Arkansas Bank and Trust Chairman Larry Wilson, state Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood) and state Sen. Linda Chesterfield (D-Little Rock) submitted letters in favor of the move.
This story has been updated to reflect that the meeting will be on Aug. 20.