Grove City mayor planning to veto marijuana dispensary permit that council approved – The Columbus Dispatch

Grove City council approved a special use permit for the city’s first recreational marijuana dispensary on Monday by a 4-2 vote, but Mayor Richard “Ike” Stage tells The Dispatch that he is planning to veto the measure.
Stage said in an interview Wednesday with The Dispatch that council passed new rules last year that don’t allow dispensaries to open within 500 feet of homes. The dispensary planned by Ohio Cannabis Company and approved by city council would be located in the China Bell restaurant building at 1947 Stringtown Road, which is just under 400 feet away from the property line of some nearby apartments.
Grove City’s rules are more stringent than the state’s guidelines for dispensaries, and also specify they can’t be within 500 feet of an opioid treatment center, church, library, park or school.
Although council members voted during the meeting to exempt the former Chinese restaurant building from the residential buffer zone requirement, Stage said he plans to reject the special use permit.
“500 feet is 500 feet. They have the prerogative to waive it, but I have the prerogative to veto it,” Stage said.
Brian Wingfield, co-owner of Ohio Cannabis Company, said Wednesday that he is saddened to hear of the mayor’s plans to veto the special use permit, but is optimistic that his company could have a future in Grove City.
Wingfield said that he hopes the mayor considers how council could “issue a variance from this very strict rule they’ve created.”
“Our team still loves Grove City. We still want to be there. We like the location that we’re going to get — it’s going to be a phenomenal place to provide patients with safe, regulated cannabis,” Wingfield said.
He said the residential buffer requirement makes it difficult to find suitable locations within city limits.
Ohio Cannabis Company has three other locations open in Canton, Upper Sandusky and Piqua, according to their website.
The company is also in the process of opening two other dispensaries in Franklin County on West Broad Street in a former Boston Market restaurant and another near Sawmill Road in a former car wash building.
The Grove City planning commission recommended denial of the dispensary.
Ohio Cannabis Company has been seeking to purchase the building from China Bell restaurant, which is located a few blocks from Interstate 71.
China Bell has been open for nearly 40 years. Cathy Shyu, owner of the restaurant, said that she is waiting to see what happens with the city and does not have any immediate plans to close the eatery.
Shyu’s husband, Gary, opened the restaurant in 1988. He died in late 2021, and she has been looking to sell the building since his passing.
Wingfield said that the building would need extensive renovations to set up the business and was not sure when that could be done, but added that the structure is more than big enough for the dispensary’s needs.  
In October 2023, Grove City council members voted down an application from Shangri-La, a Missouri-based cannabis company seeking to open a store at the intersection of Southwest Boulevard and Broadway.
Shangri-La’s proposed location directly bordered an apartment building.
Peter Barden, a spokesperson for Shangri-La, said Wednesday that he did not have any updates to share on his company’s plans.
awinfrey@dispatch.com

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