Carson City Planning Commission to consider marijuana grow site

Another bid for a medical marijuana growing facility’s site authorization in Carson City could receive approval late today from the Planning Commission.

The commission, which meets at 5 p.m. in the Carson City Community Center’s Sierra Room, has on the agenda a request for a special use permit from Tahoe Hydroponics Co. The firm wants to house a medical marijuana cultivation facility on property owned by Arrowhead Partners, LLC, at 3535 Arrowhead Dr. The land is zoned general industrial and a 46,640 square foot building is on the land there.

The applicant firm, which earlier received a provisional state certificate to operate a grow facility, previously had also obtained a permit from the commission to locate elsewhere. The firm withdrew that rather than proceeding at an Old Hot Springs Road location not far from the Hot Springs Resort and Sassafras restaurant on the same road. Technically that means seven had previous approval but Tahoe Hydroponics withdrew to switch potential sites.

Community Development Director Lee Plemel said the six other cultivation facilities were approved earlier by the commission for other locations, three of them just to grow medical marijuana and three as co-location establishments who could grow pot plants and have production capacity for edibles or oils made from the plants.

By law, the city can have just two dispensaries but there’s no limit on the other types of establishments except market forces.

“We have received building permit applications for only two facilities so far,” said Plemel.

He said one is for a dispensary at 2765 U.S. Highway 50 E, the other for a combination cultivation/production establishment at 8001 U.S. Highway 50 E.

“It is anyone’s guess how many will actually follow through with construction and operation after receiving their special use permit approvals,” said Plemel.