The Stillwater City Council this week unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for the city’s first – and only – licensed adult-use recreational cannabis retail business.
Officials with Silver Therapeutics, which will be located at 1778 Greeley St. S., still must get their state license before the city can complete their registration process, but that is “in the works,” Interim Community Development Director Jason Zimmerman told council members on Tuesday night.
Silver Therapeutics officials are applying for a state license from the Office of Cannabis Management to operate as a “microbusiness,” one that would be allowed to grow, make and sell consumer products to customers and businesses out of a single retail location, but Silver Therapeutics will do only retail sales at the Stillwater location, Zimmerman said. There will be no on-site consumption, he said.
“The CUP language limits them to retail, and the city’s zoning doesn’t allow anything other than retail (at the site), so our bases are covered,” Zimmerman said.
‘We’re making history tonight’
In accordance with state law and city ordinance, Stillwater, population 19,200, is allowed to issue one cannabis business registration per 12,500 residents, as determined by the most recent state demographer’s estimate. The cap on registrations does not apply to a medical cannabis combination business or a lower-potency hemp edible retailer.
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“Congratulations. You’re the first legal weed spot in Stillwater,” Mayor Ted Kozlowski said Tuesday night. “We’re making history tonight. …
“Everybody has done a great job in dealing with all of this,” Kozlowski said. “It was not easy how the state rolled this out … I appreciate everybody’s patience. I’m sure you had to have some patience during this process as well, and our city attorney has done mountains of work.
“We had many, many meetings where all we heard about was weed, weed, weed,” the mayor said. “I was surprised to just be so bored with weed. My 16-year-old self was like, ‘How can you be bored of talking about weed?’ I’m like, ‘Hey, it can happen. Just wait till you’re almost 50. It becomes less interesting.’”
The city’s process
Silver Therapeutics’ CUP application was compliant with all city regulations that determine appropriate locations for cannabis-related businesses in Stillwater, Zimmerman said. The property is zoned business park/commercial, and falls outside of all sensitive use buffers from residential zones, childcare and educational facilities, and park amenities frequented by minors. It also is more than 1,000 feet away from any other cannabis business in the city, he said.
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A public hearing on the CUP application was held during the city’s June 25 planning commission meeting, and the planning commission recommended approval. There were no public comments for or against the proposal submitted in writing or in person, Zimmerman said, and the store’s security plan was reviewed by the city’s police department.
Business plans
According to a letter accompanying the CUP application, Silver Therapeutics proposes to employ 10 to 14 full-time team members and plans to work with the landlord to invest more than $250,000 to renovate the property, “providing a more attractive storefront and interior of the building to facilitate the applicant’s proposed retail use,” the letter states.
“In addition, the applicant will utilize a point-of-sale system that permits customers to order products online for in-store pick up only and only after on-site age verification can be completed,” the letter states. “This process will cut down on the number of parking (spots) required and the number of customers on site at any given time.”
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