MTAB Turns Down Cannabis Proposal

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Town Advisory Board (MTAB) gave its final answer to the question of whether a marijuana cultivation facility should be built on the hills above Warm Springs. The answer came last week during a meeting held on Nov. 12. And the answer was a firm ‘no’.

Chad White, representing California-based cannabis company Ikanik Farms, reviewed a proposal which had been brought before the board in conceptual form twice before. It included construction of a large greenhouse facility for the cultivation of marijuana on a 14 acre parcel adjacent to the Warm Springs Cemetery property.

After about 45 minutes of heated discussion, the board voted 3-1 against the proposal. The one dissenting vote came from MTAB member Lyn Wren who defended the idea throughout the meeting, citing the economic benefits it would bring to the community. MTAB member John Wray was absent from the meeting and did not cast a vote.

White gave a brief overview of the proposal. He pointed out that the facility would bring 40-60 new jobs to the community starting at $18/hour. He also reviewed the fact that the company had held an extensive public workshop to discuss the idea and get input.

“We have addressed and overcome a lot of the questions that have come up and have found a solution to them,” White said. “Now we are here asking for support from the board and from the community for us to move forward. We want to be a good neighbor and be involved in this community.”

Most community members and board members in attendance spoke in opposition to the facility.
A few of the commenters said that they were mainly concerned about the proposed location.
“I think that the real elephant in the room is the sacred cemetery,” said Moapa resident Ryan Udall. “Building this facility in that spot would interrupt that feeling in that place.”

White responded that the company had addressed this concern by agreeing to place an ample landscaped buffer, including trees and shrubs, on the boundary between the properties. This would screen the view of the building from visitors at the cemetery, he said.

But community members insisted that this would not be enough.
MTAB member Bob Lyman said that the board had been clear from the very first interaction with the company that this location would not be suitable.

“When you came to us the first time you used two words: discreet and secluded,” Lyman said. “That location is neither of those things. It is on the top of a hill for all to see, with houses all around it and a cemetery next door. It’s just not the right place for this.”

In response, Wren countered that the property is currently zoned as a C-1 commercial parcel. If not this facility, another much more invasive operation might come in that would be much more difficult to live with, she said.

Wren then questioned the more deep-seated reason for the objections. “What if it wasn’t cannabis?” she asked. “What if it was lettuce they were growing? Would it still be a problem then?
Wren also asked if anyone objected to having new jobs paying $18/hr in the community. “We don’t have those kinds of jobs here and they are needed,” she said.

“That is not the issue,” responded Moapa resident Luis Mora. “We don’t want marijuana here in our town. That is not the kind of people we want here.”

Moapa resident Larry Staley agreed. “Marijuana is a dangerous drug and I oppose it being here,” he said. “Even with the jobs, what this does is bring people here who don’t care about our community.”

Moapa resident Lisa Wolfley said that the incentive of bringing jobs to the community was not relevant. “I live here, not for the commerce and not for the employment opportunities,” she said. “My husband works in Las Vegas because that is where the money is. Most people who live here understand that and do the same thing.”

“The bottom line is that this doesn’t bring a good feeling to the community,” Wolfley added. “I just don’t want to be from a town that is known for its only major industry being a marijuana facility.”

A few people in attendance spoke in favor of the proposal.
“I think it is great,” said Lola Egan of Moapa. “We need the jobs here. There are a lot of people that would love to have those jobs. This would be good for our economy.”
Robert Kurth identified himself as the owner of the 14 acre parcel in question. He stated that he had been using the parcel as a tree farm operation for quite some time now.

“I’ve employed people out there working on that propety in a farm operation for a long time and no one has had a problem with it before,” Kurth said.
Kurth added that no one had ever cared enough about the cemetery before to maintain the road accessing it in all the time that he had owned the property.

“It has fallen into bad shape and nobody else has done anything to fix it,” Kurth said. “We have always had to take care of it for the benefit of the community.”

The Ikanik Farms proposal had committed to maintain the cemetery road. But the company also proposed to build an alternate route specifically for the greenhouse employees so that they would not have to drive on the cemetery access road.

Finally, Kurth stated that all of the neighbors immediately adjacent to the parcel had been contacted and none had a problem with the proposal. “So it looks to me like all of this is about nothing more that keeping me from being able to sell my property,” he said.

As the arguments became more heated and emotional, MTAB Chairman Tim Watkins concluded public discussion on the subject.
“What I am seeing is just a few people are in favor of this,” Watkins said. “But there is a massive opposition to it here in this room. I think that the voice of the community is pretty clear.”
Watkins then called for the vote.

In an interview after the meeting, Ikanik Farms officials expressed regret that the community had passed on the benefits that would have come with the project.

“In the end, we fully respect the wishes of the community,” said Ikanik Farms Senior Vice President of Marketing Joe Devlin. “We were never there to shove it down anyone’s throat. We were just there to present our idea, and its benefits, and then ask the question if the community could support it. The answer is given and we respect that.”