by Geoff Fox & Kate Shunney
Hancock town officials have said a local zoning appeals committee has made preliminary approval for a change in use for 266 North Pennsylvania Avenue to allow for operation of a cannabis processing company there.
That location is the Hancock Antique Mall, owned by Dan Gordon of Needmore.
Hancock Town Manager Mike Faith said the property is “under contract but not sold”. He indicated the
Hancock zoning review issued a special exception to current zoning to Story Cannabis.
Story Cannabis operates four cannabis dispensaries in Maryland – in Waldorf, Mechanicsville, Hyattsville and Silver Spring.
In the company’s “Appeal for Special Exception” application to Hancock’s Board of Zoning Appeals, the applicants – identified as Seven Points Agro-Therapeutics of Phoenix, Arizona – have a contract to purchase the antique mall property.
Gordon could not be reached immediately for comment on the antique mall’s property status.
Sources indicate that some of the current tenants of the Hancock Antique Mall received letters ending their lease in the building in July.
Faith said the Antique Mall is zoned under the Town Center District of Hancock, which has a primary use for businesses.
The zoning ordinance was drafted years ago with the help from the state of Maryland.
In their application, Seven Points Agro-Therapeutics, LLC, a Maryland LLC, is referred to as “Story.”
The document says the company is “a licensed cannabis processor requesting special exception use approval under the Appeal for Special Exception Application (‘Application’) pursuant to the Zoning Code to locate and operate a licensed cannabis processing facility”.
Story proposes that the cannabis processing activities would be “carried on in completely enclosed buildings” – specifically in the existing building on the 5-acre lot.
In addressing specific standards for an industrial lot, the company said their processing would not emit an odors that would be perceptible beyond their lot boundaries.
“The Proposed Facility will strictly be used for the manufacturing and processing of marijuana-related biomass as well as packaging, storing,
and distribution of such goods. There will be no cultivation-related activities occurring at the Proposed Facility, which are the primary activities that emit the highest, detectable levels of odor from the exterior of such facilities,” the application says.
“The Proposed Facility will make use of a closed loop heating and cooling system along with carbon filters, which will reduce the smell of any internal processes to a level that is not detectable from the exterior of the lot lines of the Property where the Proposed Facility is to be located. These systems will not be exhausting any air from the building, and Applicant will utilize filtering with carbon filters to remove flavonoids and will install air purifiers in specific areas of the Proposed Facility where open product will be present,” Story company officials wrote in their application.
Other considerations addressed in the application are heat and glare from the site, which Story company officials said would not be per-
ceptible beyond their property, and noise levels. The facility would not operate between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., the application says.
In seeking the town’s approval to change the property’s designation to be used for cannabis processing, Story officials concluded:
“The Proposed Facility will be compatible with the area, will not be detrimental to the surrounding properties or residents of the area, and will improve the general welfare of the Town by providing job opportunities – both internal to the facility and for purposes of performing modifications to the building in order to meet the operational standards of the Proposed Facility.”
No one on the town’s planning or zoning board had any objections or problems with the proposed operation, Faith said.
“It wasn’t an official vote. It was just an informal discussion because that’s what the ordinance requires,” Faith said.
