Lockeford residents air concerns about cannabis park

STOCKTON — Several Lockeford residents say a proposed cannabis business park will be a detriment to the community, citing an increase in crime, odor, traffic and noise, as well as a decrease in property values and air quality, among other concerns.

The San Joaquin County Planning Commission on Thursday voted 4-0 to approve a commercial cannabis development agreement and special purpose plan for a business park on a portion of property located at 12470 Locke Road, about 3,347 feet southwest of Highway 88.

The proposed cannabis business park would include cultivation, distribution and manufacturing uses, as well as non-storefront retail sales, according to the project’s staff report.

The project will be completed in two phases over five years, with the first phase consisting of the construction of four 27,600-square-foot greenhouses and one 15,120-square-foot nursery structure.

This first phase would also utilize two existing buildings for the project. One building is an existing 19,872-square-foot building that would be divided into processing and storage, manufacturing, and distribution uses. A portion of the building — 3,681 square feet — would remain for the winery’s use.

The second building, totaling 13,226 square feet in size, would be used for an employee breakroom, mobile delivery services, cold storage and drying uses. The winery would use 5,679 square feet of the building as well, the staff report said.

A 367,180-square-foot storm water retention pond would also be constructed in the first phase.

Patti Stetson, chairwoman of the Lockeford Municipal Administration Committee, said she and other members have received numerous questions of concern and opposition about the project.

During a recent virtual community meeting, Stetson said, the applicants were misleading when describing the business would include non-retail sales.

“When I think of non-store front retail sales, I think of somebody bringing something to a business and you get it,” she said. “And (the applicant) went on to tell us that by signing up, a client would be served with cannabis products at a remote location — their home or business. Delivery vehicles would be delivering right to their doorsteps. This is not only a potential safety issue, it would increase traffic. I’m thinking of postal mail thefts and porch pirates, and that’s just petty thieves. Not to this magnitude of what’s considered high quality product.”

Stetson raised concern that once delivery drivers leave the premises, the business would be susceptible to break-ins and robberies, adding that response time from law enforcement is remote in Lockeford.

She added that more than 3,000 people live within a mile of the site, as well as a school with an enrollment of 500 children.

While the site is zoned for industrial uses, Stetson said a cannabis business was not appropriate for the area.

“I understand those men want to make a profit,” Lockeford resident Rick Cropper said. “But they make it sound so clinical and so clean and easy. But the real bottom line is, this is a drug. I went with an open mind at the Lockeford community meeting, and thought (the product) was just going to be for medical use or CBD oil. But then I found out that they’re gonna have retail. We spent billions and trillions of dollars trying to stamp out drug distribution in this state with marijuana, (and) people getting thrown in jail for having little baggies of it. Now we’re all behind it. They dangled the carrot. It’s about money.”

Brian Pilkington said he lives on Victor Road, and Saturday traffic on the thoroughfare is already heavy and unbearable. He said the business would only intensify traffic in the area. He also echoed other residents’ concerns about a potential increase in crime.

“I feel that this just doesn’t fit our community,” he said. “I realize it’s an industrial park and they’re buffered by other industrial facilities, but I don’t believe there’s any benefit to our society and community. I feel as though it’s more our detriment.”

County planning department staff said a recent traffic study undetaken found that the project would generate less than 110 automobile trips per day, and is therefor considered a small project.

In addition, staff said the applicant has proposed an odor control mechanism to quell the marijuana smell. The system, staff said, would be mounted on exhaust vents and expel an essential oil-based mixture that neutralizes odor.

Staff added that property values do not fall under the purview of the community development department.

Zach Drivon, a Stockton lawyer representing the applicants — Reno-based NRC Equity Fund 1 — said the site will be secured by concrete and fencing, and that any activity would not be present on the side of the project fronting Locke Road.

Rather, all business would be conducted through side gates and doors, He added that security lighting would be installed around the property’s perimeter, and all activity, both inside and outside, would be monitored by real-time administrators via surveillance cameras.

Those administrators would alert on-site security officers if anything out of the ordinary were to happen.

“An increase in crime does not directly correlate with the establishment of legal, regulated cannabis businesses in the community,” he said. “On the contrary, although these issues with crime are often conflated with legal and illegal cannabis businesses, when you establish legal cannabis businesses that are regulated, you actually create resources that can be utilized to address some of the existing issues in the community.”

Drivon said the applicants expect the first phase of the project to be completed by the end of 2022, and the second phase would then completed within the following three years.

The second phase would include the construction of eight 27,600-square-foot greenhouses, as well as the utilization of a 1,860-squarefoot guardhouse.

According to the staff report, the park would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Drivon said he would be willing to meet with community members again to try and alleviate their concerns.

“We know this project has not come without concerns and criticism,” he said. “We have worked diligently to provide as much information and due diligence as possible to reassure community members and leaders alike that this project can be developed and operated safely without creating any inconvenience or nuisance to the surrounding community.”

The site was once home to the Lockeford Winery Collective, which operated from 1946-1973. Since that time, the land has been used sparsely by several small businesses, Dravon said, including Gypsy Bistro Restaurant and Catering, Lone Grape Winery and LVVR Sparkling Cellars.

Drivon said all those businesses would continue to operate once the business park was up and running.

Commissioners said they visited the site, and though the applicant’s proposal was a good use for the site, as well as far enough from downtown Lockeford or Lockeford Elementary School to be a safety or traffic issue.

“I thought it was a good site, and I understand the community (concerns) out in Lockeford as well,” vice chair James Grunsky said. “I’ve seen these operations be successful, whether or not it’s morally appropriate for a community is not my decision or the commission’s decision in general. I think it’s a good project overall. The applicant has done a good job answering all the questions that were brought up.”

Commissioner Jass Sangha said while the project might be morally wrong to many in the Lockeford community, the commission’s role was to decide whether or not it fits the legal and zoning requirements of the site.

“There are many things that are a higher level of danger and morally wrong, but they are legal,” she said. “I don’t smoke and I don’t know the benefits. If it’s medicinal, even for recreational ... there’s pros and cons for everything. I think this is a good place for it, rather than having it close to the downtown and mainstream market.”

Commissioner Randy Hamilton was absent from the meeting.