LOCKPORT — A Conditional Use Hearing was held before this month’s Woodward Township Board of Supervisors meeting regarding Terrapin’s request to open a medical marijuana dispensary.

Township Solicitor R. Thom Rosamilia explained what a conditional use hearing was for those who may not have attended one previously.

“Terrapin (will) give an opening statement, a rundown of their program and (the) documentation they want to submit into evidence. We will also then allow the supervisors to ask questions and allow the public comment. We’re going to allow Terrapin to give a final rundown of any responses said by the public, (as well as) whatever closing they want to give,” Rosamilia said.

Attorney Zachary R. Morano, with Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin’s Real Estate and Land Use Department, represented Terrapin Investment Fund I LLC.

He noted Terrapin is the equitable owner of the property located at 209 Woodward Ave., meaning they had an agreement of sale to purchase the property.

The property is in the township’s commercial zoning district. At this time, no district in the township permits a medical marijuana dispensary which is rectified by seeking conditional use approval.

The first witness Morano called forth was Sean Policelli, Engineer and Senior Project Manager with Gilmore & Associates Inc.

Policelli first explained his credentials, noting he has been a Civil Engineer for 18 years, is qualified as an expert witness for similar hearings and has experience drafting plans for commercial developers such as pharmacies, self storage facilities, industrial developments and more.

He described the general location of the bank, noting other businesses and residential areas; he said the structure is currently unoccupied, and is ideal for meeting state requirements for the dispensary.

“The state requires that (the dispensary) is 1,000 feet from any schools or daycares as they define them in the act. …It doesn’t need any zoning relief. It can utilize the access points that are already established off of a state route, it has sufficient parking to handle the anticipated demand,” said Policelli.

Policelli noted in his professional opinion, the use of the building as a dispensary would not adversely affect the neighborhood and will not create any undue nuisance, no adverse economic noise, glare, odors or serious hazards to vehicles or pedestrians.

Vice President of Communications for Terrapin, Peter Marcus, was the second witness and similarly described his qualifications.

He has worked for Terrapin for seven years, and prior to that for many years he was a political reporter covering the cannabis industry.

He spoke about the process patients will go through when they enter the doors of the facility — first checking into a lobby and giving their patient registration, their registration will be verified via electronic system as well as their age, a pharmacy consult is determined, they’re taken to the restricted access sales floor, they consult the specialist, the product is purchased and then the patient leaves through a separate door.

The kinds of products that would be sold at the facility are intended as medical use only, Marcus repeated.

The products offered at the dispensary are not pre-rolled joints and edibles are not allowed. There will only be cannabis for medical use in the form of concentrates, lozenges, salves, creams, oil and flowers. There will also be a limited number of approved and state regulated accessories.

As noted previously, the location would be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday; they expect around 10 people or under per hour and around 50 transactions per day.

It was reiterated by Marcus that the building is ideal for Terrapin’s needs. The building is wheelchair accessible, and the drive through allows for those with severe disability easy access to their medication. If conditional use is granted, Marcus said they would be hiring local contractors to complete the interior renovations.

He cited the existing footprint of the building meeting their needs not only in terms of access points from the main road but also where it is situated in Clinton County.

“The Department of Health has deemed Clinton County an underserved area of the (medical cannabis) program. There’s only six dispensaries within a 60-mile radius, all of which are 30-45 miles away. Areas to the North and West, the closest dispensary is well over 100 miles away. The combined region has a population of 215,000 with only two dispensaries serving patients,” said Marcus.

Supervisor Kyle Coleman asked where specifically these dispensaries were — one in Williamsport and one in State College — and seemed relieved to know that there wouldn’t be a sudden influx of travel from bigger areas.

As for security, Terrapin uses VetForce Security, Inc., a Lock Haven-founded company that employs mostly veterans, for day-to-day security. VetForce will be providing 24/7 coverage for the location.

One of the evidence items presented by Morano were the letters discussed in the Planning Commission meeting, including an additional two letters from the Haven Spa, which would be a neighbor if they receive approval, and the Keystone Central Foundation.

Concerns were once again raised by members of the public who signed up to speak, many of which were similar to those brought up in the initial Planning Commission meeting.

Jeff Fulmer, Administrator at Fulmer’s Personal Care Home, expressed concerns regarding his residents.

“We have a lot of residents at our place that have cognitive issues, mobility issues. I understand that marijuana can have legitimate medical benefits, but there are some concerns and risks associated with those that can impact our community,” said Fulmer, who cited studies done in other states regarding issues with dispensaries. He commented on a daycare situated just outside the 1,000-foot radius.

He brought up the possibility of a crosswalk being put into place to allow residents to walk across the street, but was informed that the township has no involvement in that due to it being a state road.

Fulmer also posed a question to Terrapin, “Have any of your other dispensaries lost their license in the state of Pennsylvania, and what have been some of your deficiencies when they’ve inspected your buildings?”

Marcus answered his question, explaining that although Terrapin operates nine facilities, this would be their first in Pennsylvania thanks to a recent change in legislation.

“The state only allowed us to open dispensaries this year (because of) a change to the law. They used to make you choose a lane. I can tell you that our production facility, which has even more requirements because we’re actually producing and growing it there, they’ve come in and made recommendations. But we have never experienced a violation and we have never received feedback that wasn’t able to be rectified,” said Marcus.

Heather Macfie, a resident who attended the Planning Commission meeting as well, voiced her concerns once more.

Macfie works in commercial retail development and is well versed in conditional use permits, having managed projects across North America.

“A business typically applies for a conditional use permit when they’re looking to operate in a way that isn’t planned for in our zoning ordinance. This is zoned commercial. This is a use case that is not currently permitted in Woodward Township. …You guys have the burden of attaching conditions to act as safeguards to minimize any impacts potentially to the community caused by (this.) In larger municipalities… they are well-equipped to handle requests like this. (Woodward Township is) not necessarily equipped to handle conditional uses like what they’re proposing,” said Macfie.

Macfie spoke about how Woodward Township has not had to add this to their ordinances because commercial uses do not benefit them as they do bigger cities.

“It’s not in our zoning because that book was (last updated) in 2011. I think it’s fair to say 13-14 years ago these things didn’t really exist to be in a zoning book,” said Coleman.

Macfie also commented on the increased burden to local police, which was also answered by Coleman.

“The hours that I heard here tonight, our police are (already) on duty during those times. I don’t think it’s going to be any extra strain on our department. Even outside of our police hours, calls then go to state police,” said Coleman.

Numerous speakers both in this meeting and the previous meeting also brought up concerns about an increase in impaired drivers.

“There’s a new gas station… You’re going to be able to go in there and purchase alcohol. There’s probably an overwhelming amount of people who walk into the local 6-pack and potentially would create the same hazards people are concerned about with marijuana. I’ve never heard anyone come in here complaining about those things,” said Coleman.

William Hagaman, who lives nearby the proposed site, explained to the supervisors and the audience what this dispensary would mean to him.

He began his perspective humorously, saying, “I was raised in a very conservative family. All pot was bad pot. I started having kids, they discovered pot. All pot was good pot to them. I spent my life chasing them around trying to keep them away from marijuana.”

He spoke about being injured in the military and recently had his 15th back surgery after being injured in Iraq in 1992.

“I have been on over 100 different medications for pain, for PTSD, for not sleeping. Two years ago, I stopped all medications. I was on 21 medications. I now use medical marijuana for everything and it has absolutely changed my life,” said Hagaman.

He said the biggest nuisance at the bank is the ATM, noting that it causes people to back up traffic often.

“I couldn’t be happier to have you guys coming to the neighborhood. I hope you do. Ten more cars an hour going over there are not going to be any more than what that ATM causes. I’ve talked to people up in Wellsboro, they’re excited,” said Hagaman.

To close, Morano reiterated that the conditional use is required because the current code doesn’t prohibit or allow a medical marijuana dispensary, but it does have a section for an instance regarding a use that is not provided for.

Marcus closed by saying, “We’ve been here for seven years. We’re part of the community. For seven years we’ve operated without a nuisance.”

He read out an excerpt from Woodward resident and CEO of the Clinton County Economic Partnership Mike Flanagan.

“Terrapin has always proven themselves in terms of earning and maintaining the community’s trust. They have never faced a compliance or nuisance issue and have always served as stewards for the important work they do. We’ve greatly appreciated the open communication and support from Terrapin over the past eight years. I am confident that Terrapin will be an outstanding addition to Woodward…” read Marcus.

“This is a perfect location for our needs, for the community’s needs, to serve more patients and to continue what we’ve been doing with trust and honor for seven years,” said Marcus.

No moves for either approval or denial have been made at this point; the supervisors have 45 days to render a written response to Terrapin and either offer their approval, denial or certain conditions to be met.