Eastlake, Ohio – Some locals don’t seem worried about a medical marijuana greenhouse envisioned for the former Eastlake JFK Senior Center site on Curtis Boulevard.
Leaders of Big Game Capital, an investment company in Chagrin Falls, told Eastlake City Council’s finance committee this week that they are considering buying the 33505 Curtis Blvd. site from the city, bulldozing the center’s dilapidated former building and raising a 50,000-square-foot marijuana greenhouse.
Pine trees, a 5-foot berm, air filters and water filters are expected to protect the neighbors. The site faces a bus depot for the Willoughby-Eastlake schools and borders residential homes.
Ashley Holmes, who lives across the street, welcomes the news about the greenhouse. She says medical marijuana relieved pain effectively for a friend with cancer.
Neighbor Louis Fish says of the greenhouse, "It wouldn’t bother me." He doubts the pot would draw thieves. "With the cameras and security they have nowadays, you couldn’t get away with nothing."
Some 15 years ago, the JFK senior center left Curtis Boulevard for the former Taft Elementary School at 1580 E. 332nd St. Coordinator Grace Giangiacomo says many seniors mistakenly thought the greenhouse would replace the center’s current home rather the former one. "You don’t know how many people have said, ‘Are we closing?’"
The Ohio Statehouse voted last year to allow 12 big and 12 small facilities to produce marijuana for prescriptions for pain relief. The greenhouse’s security would be led by Lewis Merletti, former head of the U.S. Secret Service and of the Cleveland Browns’ security, who attended the Eastlake meeting.
According to its website, Big Game Capital is led by Andrew Rayburn and has interests in the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Daytona Tortugas baseball team, Furnace Parts of Cleveland and several other businesses. Rayburn was not available for comment Thursday or Friday.
Big Game needs to negotiate and finalize a deal for a site before applying for a state license in April. The sale will not happen unless the license
is approved. The 11-acre site and its current building are listed on the Lake County website as worth $720,080. Mayor Dennis Morley hopes to hire an appraiser soon but predicts the value will turn out to be much lower than the listed one.
Besides the sale price, the city and other government agencies would reap taxes. Big Game expects to hire 30 people the first year of operation, with a payroll of about $1.5 million, and another 20 people the second year, according to Morley on Friday. He hopes to negotiate a licensing fee of $15,000 to $25,000 per year.
"We need money," says Morley. Eastlake voters have rejected new taxes for many years. The strapped city has laid off 42 workers in the past six years, with just 85 remaining.
Kim Evers, who chairs the finance committee, said the city could profit from the greenhouse. But she says, "Nothing’s set in stone. There’s a lot of red tape to go through, a lot of questions to be answered."
Seniors at the current JFK praise the plan.
"As long as they regulate it for medical use only, that would be fine," says Sam Hopacka.
"It could do a lot of good," says Sally Fritsch. "We’ll get some money for the city."
"People keep rejecting the levies," says Maxine Hutchison. "We need to make money somehow."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Greenhouse Proposed In Eastlake Is OK With Some Residents
Author: Grant Segall
Contact: news@cleveland.com
Photo Credit: Grant Segall
Website: cleveland.com
