REQUEST TO MOVE: Greenlight Little Rock has its sights set on Jacksonville.
A proposed move to Jacksonville for a Little Rock dispensary has gained the support of a state representative and a local bank president. Meanwhile, Sherwood’s mayor is worried the move could hurt her city’s coffers.
Greenlight Little Rock will ask the state Medical Marijuana Commission next week for approval to move to 7418 T.P. White Drive in Jacksonville, according to the March 7 meeting agenda. The proposed location carries a Cabot address but, according to Jacksonville planning maps, the location is within the city of Jacksonville.
The proposal was slated to go before the commission on Feb. 1 but Greenlight officials asked in late January to pull the item from the agenda.
State Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), whose District 67 includes part of Jacksonville but does not include the proposed site, submitted a letter in favor of the move. Brown called the dispensary a “great economic opportunity for the city of Jacksonville and one we should support.” Brown noted the proposed site is not near schools, churches or residential neighborhoods and is close to “county line liquor stores.” She said the dispensary would improve accessibility for patients in northern Pulaski County and would provide an estimated $200,000 to $250,000 a year for the city.
Larry Wilson, the chairman, president and CEO of First Arkansas Bank and Trust in Jacksonville, also submitted a letter in favor of the move. Wilson said he “wholeheartedly” supports the move and said the dispensary will contribute to the city’s “economic vitality” and sales tax revenues.
Wilson noted that the location is in Jacksonville and did not mince words when addressing those opposing the relocation:
I submit to you that many of the same few people who are objecting to this relocation are some of the same people who patronize the liquor stores located in the same area (with a Cabot address!) as the proposed dispensary. Those liquor stores have operated in the same area for years with no problems and I am confident that the proposed relocation will not bring any “criminal element” to the area that is not already present.
Sherwood Mayor Mary Jo Heye-Townsell submitted a letter opposing the move, praising her own city’s Natural Relief Dispensary, which is one of the top-selling dispensaries in the state. Heye-Townsell said the move does not serve the intent of the state’s medical marijuana amendment and that it is merely a “chess match to siphon profits and assets.” The mayor said Sherwood would be negatively impacted by the move.
“If this relocation is approved, the city of Sherwood will suffer adverse economic impact through the projected loss of revenue to our locally owned and operated dispensary and the taxes they generate for the city,” Heye-Townsell said.
Sen. Brian Evans (R-Cabot) and Sen. Ricky Hill (R-Cabot) submitted letters of opposition in November, before the matter was listed on the commission’s agenda.
Jacksonville Mayor Jeff Elmore and state Sen. Linda Chesterfield (D-Little Rock) previously submitted letters in support of the move.
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