Pot grow facility to ask for initial license application

On Tuesday, Nye County commissioners plan to hear a medical marijuana initial license application for a cultivation facility that has raised neighbors’ concerns.

Even after officials gave the business a special use permit application and a zone change last September, some nearby residents continue to voice concerns about the facility at 6041 S. Hafen Ranch Road that is located near the Artesia and Cottonwoods neighborhoods.

The conditions for a special use permit included usage of public utilities, seclusion of the property with a wall and education of residents about medical marijuana.

Carole MacDonald, a Pahrump resident who represented more than 500 petitioners who had asked to deny the zone change and special use permit for the facility said she never heard from the applicant.

“We haven’t heard a word, and there’s been no activity on South Hafen Ranch Road,” she said.

MacDonald said she has “no plan whatsoever at this time,” and added that she was still against the facility.

“It’s not going to increase our property values,” she said.

County Commissioner Dan Schinhofen, who represents the district where the facility would be located, said only 30 people attended last year’s meeting that was held at the Artesia Community Clubhouse after an SUP was approved.

“I have spoken with numerous residents of that area,” Schinhofen said. He also added that he wasn’t able to contact each petitioner individually.

“Some people have a visceral fear of marijuana,” Schinhofen said.

Schinhofen said he was still in favor of the facility, staying it would create jobs and bring taxes.

“Once they are going to build it, (residents) are not going to know it’s there,” Schinhofen said. “We did spend a lot of time working on the ordinances, the way it can be placed, and it met all the criteria.”

Scott Sibley, the manager of applicant Nevada Natural Medicines, didn’t return multiple requests for comment.

In May, Nevada Natural Medicines was among a group of cultivation facilities that received an extension for Pahrump.

The applicant is yet to submit a water impact plan and a site development plan. A building permit has not yet been applied for or issued, according to the documents.

Nye County code requires the issuance of a medical marijuana establishment license by the board of county commissioners prior to the operation of any medical marijuana business, the documents said.

Nye County commissioners approved a special use permit application and a zone change under stringent conditions on Sept. 15, 2015.

Prior to the zone change, the 17,000-square-foot building and the outbuildings housed light industrial and commercial manufacturing. Officials changed the property zoning from neighborhood commercial to commercial manufacturing.

Under requirements, there’s no separation for residences from growhouses. However, the minimum distance from a school is 1,000 feet and from community facilities such as playground, church, or park is 300 feet. Hafen Elementary School is located 1.1 miles away from the proposed cultivation facility.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77