A Colorado cannabis expert wants to open a $4.7M medical pot dispensary in Waveland

John Newman, with ZenLabs, Inc., on Wednesday spoke to the Waveland Board of Mayor and Aldermen about a proposed medical cannabis dispensary.

Newman said he has been in the business for about six years and founded the Colorado-based ZenLabs, a nationwide CBD supplier.

Newman said he recently contracted with Whitney Bank to purchase the former location of Hancock Whitney Bank, located at 529 U.S. 90 in Waveland.

He said that his proposal includes an investment of up to $4.7 million to convert the bank building into the “finest medical cannabis dispensary on the Gulf Coast.”

Newman said the attached community center will be converted to a processing center, which will include a commercial kitchen and an extraction facility for cultivators around the state to bring raw materials to convert to ZenLabs private label product line.

Newman said the company looks to employ between 20 to 40 local residents in “high-paying” jobs and he said he will be bringing in three to four managers from out of state with experience in the industry.

“Our plan is to be offering, obviously, the largest selection and best prices of products,” he said. “Considering that Pass Christian is one of the four cities that have already opted out, that’s actually a big benefit to Waveland.”

Will Waveland say yes to medical pot?

For this to happen, Newman said, he needs to know whether or not Waveland will decide to opt out of medical mairjuana.

Last month, city attorney Malcolm Jones told the board that the city can choose to opt out within the first 90 days. Wednesday, March 16, marked the 42nd day of the opt-out period.

“We respectfully request that if there is some way you could issue an indication that Waveland will not opt out,” Newman said. “It would be a big benefit to us in terms of our planning and constructing, everything. We would very much like to be the first to open on the coast.”

Newman said that the application process doesn’t start until June and 30 days after that, licenses are issued.

He said that he thinks his facility could conceivably be open by the end of the year.

The second request from Newman would ask of the city is a zoning variance, he said.

According to the bill for the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act program, Newman said, a retail dispensary license would be applicable to the commercial zoning.

However, he said, a processing facility is zoned agricultural.

Newman said they chose the former location of the Hancock Bank because it is “ideal” for the company’s purposes and said there would be very few changes made to the interior of the bank building.

The building also comes equipped with a vault to secure the products, Newman said.

“There’s just no safer or better location to have than a bank,” he said.

The location also meets the new law’s requirement which states that facilities that deal with cannabis cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a church, school, or child care facility, Newman added.

With regards to processing at his proposed facility, Newman said, the city would have to grant a variance to the existing zoning ordinance or adopt a change in the ordinance to allow for the processing, “which is a huge part of our business.”

He added that he is unaware of any other processing facilities coming to the Gulf Coast at this time.

“We just feel like this is an incredible opportunity for this community and it’s going to do a lot of good for a lot of patients,” he said.

He said the reason why processing facilities and growing facilities are limited to agricultural and industrial zones, Newman said, is because of odor.

“There’s virtually none in what we do,” he said. “We’re not cooking anything, per se. We will be creating the typical types of items like gummies, gel caps, tinctures, etc. What we do will not have any discernible odor.”

Newman said “without a specific variance, it would kill our project.”

What happens next?

He said they have plans to block the thoroughfare off, get rid of the ATM, install a privacy fence, and utilize the video surveillance equipment already installed at the bank.

He said that medical cannabis has such a “positive effect on so many ailments.”

“I mean everybody here probably knows someone that has either gone through chemotherapy or has some type of cancer, seizures and those type of things,” he said. “It really is a positive thing, as long as it’s done professionally, as we certainly intend to do.”

He said that they also plan to bring in a certified caregiver from Colorado who is knowledgeable about which products to recommend for certain ailments.

As far as he knows, Newman said, they are not allowed to have a medical doctor in the facility.

City attorney Malcolm Jones said that Newman would need to submit a request for variance application through the Planning and Zoning Commission and then the matter would come before the board.

“You can allow the processing portion to be in a commercial zone,” Jones said. “It could be allowed as a conditional use. Of course, there would have to be a planning commission hearing, advertised hearing and all the proper notices go out as are required. Once they make that recommendation, it will come before the board.”

Jones said that the board can also have an expression of intent, which would state whether or not the city plans to opt out of the program. The city is automatically in the program if it doesn’t opt out within the 90-day period.

Waveland Mayor Mike Smith said that he understands Newman wants answers prior to making a million-dollar investment.

In order to give the board members time to think about it, Smith suggested that that decision to opt in or out be put on the agenda for the next meeting, which is April 5 at 6:30 p.m.