Odors from a cannabis production facility are causing issues in Centerville. The business owners say they’re containing most of the smell on site, but neighboring businesses are complaining.

Wholesome Goods, LLC dispenses medical cannabis to more than 81,000 patient card holders who “rely on cannabis to treat their chronic life-threatening and terminal illnesses,” company representative JD Lauritzen told planning commission members at their March 13 meeting.

The only complaints about the odor have come from businesses that share internal walls with the cannabis production facility, he said. “The testing that we had done as part of the enforcement action showed that there were no discernible volatile organic compounds right outside of our building.”

“We’ve not been made aware as a business [of complaints] from any non-adjacent business in the surrounding area,” he said later.  “Across the way from us there’s another set up. There’s another building and there’s even a children’s playground in there. We’ve not gotten complaints from any of them; none of the surrounding homeowners or anything like that.”

Wholesome Goods, LLC asked the planning commission to recommend a zoning change amendment which would give them more leeway, but commissioners did not buy their arguments. 

In making its decision the planning commission should consider what action will reasonably promote the public interest, conserve the values of other properties avoid incompatible development, encourage appropriate use in development and promote the general welfare, Interim Community Development Director Whittney Black told the planning commission that evening.

Commissioners seemed particularly concerned that recommending approval of the proposed amendments could have implications for all future businesses in the same zone as the cannabis production facility.

Wholesome Goods, LLC had hoped to convince commissioners to change the ordinance so it only addressed “excessive,” odors; to delete the section concerning emissions or to replace it with language that would require a business to install systems that would “reasonably limit” such odors.

Since neighboring businesses have complained about the odor it has spent more than $200, 000 to purchase 14 filtration units to address the problem, Lauritzen said.

Wholesome Goods, LLC should be considered general manufacturing which has less stringent requirements, he argued. However, the cannabis facility was approved under a limited manufacturing designation and is subject to its requirements, Commission Chair Mason Kjar said. The planning commission cannot change those requirements to satisfy one business and cannot reclassify Wholesome Goods, he said. 

In the context the application came to them the commissioners cannot look at whether the business was classified correctly, Kjar said, but can only consider the amendment before them.

“I think the current classification in my opinion is consistent since the regulation [in 1269] for cannabis production establishments said, ‘no odor,’” City Attorney Lisa Romney told the commission.

In the end, the planning commission decided unanimously not to recommend any of the changes asked for by the applicant because doing so would not promote public interest or conserve the values of other properties within the city including adjacent commercial uses and nearby residential uses.

The issue was expected to go before the city council in the following weeks where a public hearing would be held, and a final decision would be made.