City Commissioners voted 3-2 on Aug. 5 to approve a conditional use permit for a marijuana cultivation facility at 748 Crescent Circle.
The property is currently zoned I-1 light industrial.
The property owner, Flower, requested a conditional use permit.
A marijuana cultivation facility is permitted by CUP in the I-1 district and by right in the I-2 heavy industrial district under city code changes adopted in 2022.
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City staff didn’t make a recommendation regarding the permit request, but reviewed the application for compliance with local code and evaluated proposed mitigation measures, finding the request acceptable as presented.
“The CUP process enables the city commission to determine whether a non-permitted use may be appropriate at a given location with adequate mitigation. Staff has provided relevant information to support that determination,” staff wrote in their July 1 agenda report asking commissioners to set the hearing.
Staff recommended a series of conditions to apply to the property if commissioners approve the CUP and if commissioners deny the request, they’ll need to adopt alternative findings of fact to support that decision.
During the Aug. 5 hearing, Commissioner Rick Tryon said he felt like commissioners are forced to approve the request since they couldn’t come up with their own findings to deny the request during the meeting.
He said they only received the staff packet the previous Thursday and that wasn’t enough time to come up with alternate findings, or staff should provide them alternate findings.
The Aug. 5 staff packed for the CUP was virtually identical to the staff packet commissioners received for the July 1 meeting. That packet was publicly available June 26 and was also similar to the packet for the June 10 planning board meeting, which was publicly available June 5.
During the July 1 commission meeting, some members of the public asked commissioners to deny the request and questioned its legality.
At that time, Tryon said they’d been hearing the concerns from one member of the public, Ben Forsyth, repeatedly and that commissioners were aware of their responsibilities and legal authorities on marijuana in the community.
“We’ve already exercised the authority we have via state stature when it comes to regulating marijuana” by limiting marijuana operations to industrial zoning district, Tryon said on July 1.
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He said that just because they don’t call a town hall meeting or answer every question time after time, it doesn’t mean they’re unaware of what’s going on.
Tryon said he was “sick and tired of being accused of being someone who doesn’t care about this community or the health and welfare of our people based on this one issue.”
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During the July 1 meeting, Tryon said that when they considered the permit on Aug. 5, they’d make sure they were well informed on that particular issue.
He said that he could dispute the staff’s basis of decision as it was based on the 2013 growth policy, when recreational marijuana was not legal in the state or the city.
Tryon said he could dispute that the marijuana operation doesn’t endanger health or morals.
There’s an alternate view to all of staff’s findings, he said, and commissioners don’t get that.
“We’re put in a box,” Tryon said and moved to table the decision to Sept. 2 for staff to provide alternative findings.
Mayor Cory Reeves said he felt the applicant met all the requirements and the neighborhood council and planning board had already voted in support.
He said they couldn’t assert their personal feelings into the decision.
Tryon said it wasn’t his personal feelings about marijuana but that it wasn’t appropriate for commissioners to have to come up with their own findings to deny the CUP.
Commissioner Shannon Wilson said she wasn’t opposed to waiting.
Commissioner Joe McKenney said “this is not new information,” as it went through neighborhood council and planning board.
He said he was in Yellowstone National Park when he received the packet the previous Thursday and “there was still plenty of time for me to research this and I did.”
Tryon’s motion to postpone failed 2-3 so the discussion returned to considering approval of the permit.
McKenney said he wasn’t clear on the conditional use permit and why they needed a permit if marijuana operations were allowed in industrial zones.
Brock Cherry, city planning director, said that staff was following the land use rules and processes established by the commission pertaining to marijuana operations.
McKenney asked if marijuana cultivation could be in any industrial area without a conditional use permit, to which Cherry responded that cultivation is only allowed in industrial areas with a permit.
Under city code, the applicable portion of which was included in the staff report, a marijuana cultivation facility is permitted by CUP in the I-1 district and by right in the I-2 heavy industrial district under city code changes adopted in 2022.
Tryon said that he would vote no on the permit because he didn’t like feeling constrained.
Commissioner Susan Wolff said she appreciated the applicant’s efforts but would vote no because marijuana use leads to a burden on law enforcement. She said she couldn’t support it knowing the burden it would put on other departments.
Commissioner Shannon Wilson said that she didn’t see a reason to say no with a responsible application meeting the city’s guidelines.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the permit.
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Marijuana cultivation is defined under city code as “a use licensed by the State of Montana to: (a) plant, cultivate, grow, harvest, and dry marijuana; and (b) package and relabel marijuana produced at the location in a natural or naturally dried form that has not been converted, concentrated, or compounded for sale through a licensed dispensary.”
Bobby Long, founder of Flower, a cannabis business, submitted an application for a conditional use permit to establish a marijuana cultivation operation with in the I-1 light industrial zoning district in additional to establishing a marijuana dispensary at the property, which is permitted by right in that district.
The project, according to the applicant, includes secure indoor cultivation and back-end packaging, state-licensed dispensary and administrative functions.
Long said in his document submitted to the city that he’s the first person to apply for a CUP for marijuana cultivation in Great Falls.
He wrote in his application materials that he’s personally invested in the commercial property at 748 Crescent Circle, “with no guarantees of approval, because I believe this is the right time—and the right city—for Flower’s future.”
The proposed facility will operate during normal business hours and include plant care in the sealed grow rooms, irrigation maintenance, harvesting,trimming and processing of cannabis plants, according to the Long, who anticipates 10-15 employees on site.
Long said during the Aug. 5 meeting that he was asking for a “fair chance” and that “someone had to have the courage to be the first one.”
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The business is also required to meet all state cannabis regulations through the Montana Department of Revenue.
The property at 748 Crescent Circle is wholly surrounded by the I-1 zoning district with an industrial multi-tenant building to the north, a mixture of light industrial and commercial uses, including a marijuana dispensary, on 6th Street Southwest, and a multi-tenant commercial building to the south that includes a coffee shop, casino and lounge, marijuana dispensary and beauty salon.
The city planning board voted 4-1 during their June 10 meeting to recommend that the City Commission approve the CUP.
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Julie Essex, the planning board member who voted in opposition, referenced federal law that classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, prohibiting its production, distribution or possession outside federally approved research contexts.
During the planning board meeting, Essex referenced a Congressional Research Service report and the U.S. Constitution.
She did not reference the local case law and multiple discussions regarding that specific issue from 2022.
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The city had long prohibited marijuana in the city limits based on that federal classification, but was sued by a local dispensary operator and a district court judge ruled against the city, at which point, the city implemented the current zoning regulations allowing marijuana related businesses in industrial zoning districts.
During the planning board meeting, City Attorney David Dennis explained that history and that if the city were to deny the CUP solely on federal law concerns, it would likely be sued again.
Neighborhood Council 2 discussed the proposal during their May 14 meeting and voted 4-1 to “not oppose” the request, which isn’t support or object to the proposal.
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The council expressed concern about the increasing number of marijuana businesses in their area and “asked if the city could limit how many dispensaries are allowed,” according to city staff.
Rules set by city commissioners in 2022 limited marijuana activities to industrial zoning districts, but did not set quotas on marijuana business allowed in those districts or the city generally.
Dispensaries are automatically allowed in I-1 light industrial areas and the Neighborhood Council 2 area includes the closest such zoning district to the city center, according to city staff.
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“Businesses are choosing locations near busy commercial areas like 6th Street Southwest instead of on the outskirts of town. As a result, marijuana businesses in Neighborhood Council 2 are more often near neighborhoods that are adjacent to light or heavy industrial zoning. This can unintentionally create an uneven concentration in certain parts of the city, such as along 6th Street Southwest,” according to the staff report.
With the CUP, the project will also require a business license and building permit.
City staff asked Flower to provide information regarding common concerns related to marijuana cultivation facilities and the following information was provided in their application:
- odor: Flower states odor is managed by the design of the growing environment, which is a sealed grow system utilizing carbon filters and a closed-loop HVAC system, and odor won’t be detectable beyond the facility perimeter under normal operations.
- security: state required measures include monitored video surveillance where cannabis products are grown, processed, stored, and sold; controlled-access doors and alarm systems. Flower’s security plan includes measures that comply with and exceed the state requirements, such as monitored video surveillance for all backoffice space, such as administrative offices. City staff included a condition of approval that requires a Security Plan detailing safety operations upon the property.
- visibility: there will be no outdoor cultivation, no exterior venting or large industrial fans, or cultivation garbage disposal visible to the public. No signage will identify the activity of cultivation occurring within the building. City staff included a condition of approval prohibiting exterior signage referencing marijuana cultivation operations, but signage typical of a retail establishment is permitted as allowed under city sign code. Staff also included a condition that all marijuana cultivation activities be conducted entirely within an enclosed, secure and climate-controlled indoor facility.
- traffic: applicant states traffic will be limited to staff, deliveries, lab testing visits and equipment testing. City staff finds that the existing street network can accommodate the proposed use.
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The conditional use permit expires one year after issuance if the operation hasn’t been established, but the city may extend that expiration date if substantial work is ongoing and if the conditional use ceases to operate for more than six months, the conditional use permit is void.
