St. Cloud Zoning Board to Decide on Cannabis Facility Near Apollo High School

(KNSI) – A proposed cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility could set up shop roughly 630 feet from Apollo High School property if the St. Cloud Zoning Board of Appeals signs off on a variance.

GRS Northtown, LLC and Cocina Mexicana, LLC are asking the board for a 370-foot variance from the city’s rule requiring cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, and related businesses to stay at least 1,000 feet from any K-12 school. The board takes up the request on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.

The applicants want to convert the vacant former call center at 14 and 16 McLeland Road into a 91,472-square-foot cannabis growing and processing operation. No retail sales would take place on site, the facility would not be open to the public, and there would be no exterior signage identifying it as a cannabis business.

City Senior Planner Dave Broxmeyer is recommending approval. In a memo to the board, Broxmeyer notes the portion of the 1,000-foot buffer that touches Apollo High School property is occupied by a stormwater holding pond, not school activities. The closest school entrance is nearly a quarter mile from the site, and the two properties are separated by Veterans Drive and 44th Avenue North.

The proposed facility would employ about 85 full-time workers, according to information the applicants provided to the city. An economic impact analysis prepared by St. Cloud State University’s Center for Policy Research and Community Engagement estimates the operation would generate $19.6 million in total annual economic output across Stearns and Benton counties, with average wages of $63,036.

The analysis projects $631,000 in annual direct tax revenue, including $136,605 for School District 742 and other special taxing districts.
The study was authored by Dr. King Banaian and prepared on behalf of Greater St. Cloud. It refers to the applicant as Grow One, LLC.

Tuesday’s Zoning Board of Appeals meeting agenda and staff report are available by clicking here.

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