Anchorage, Alaska’s first commercial cannabis grow was sanctioned by the city Assembly yesterday, after lawmakers voted 10-0 to approve licenses and permits for Dream Green Farms, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.
A second application by Arctic Herbery was referred to the Community and Economic Development Committee for further review. Legislators made the decision after the Dream Green Farms vote to send all future applications to that committee before hearing public testimony in an effort to strengthen and structure the city’s approval process.
“The concern is all these little details and we’re going to have to work them out,” Assemblyman Tim Steele told Arctic Herbery owner Bryant Thorp at the conclusion of the debate. “We’re not picking on you, it’s a new process.”
Assemblywoman Amy Dembowski said the Dream Green Farms application “should be the standard by which all others are measured.
“No offense to those that are coming behind it but this is like ‘A’ work and this is exactly what we’re looking for,” she said in the report. Dembowski also had concerns with Arctic Herbery’s application over concerns about the response in the proposed neighborhood.
Dream Green Farms co-owner Justin Roland said he is now waiting for municipal approval to begin construction on a vacant warehouse for his cultivation center and anticipates he will bring his first product to market in December.
The Community and Economic Development Committee will discuss Thorp’s application before the next Assembly meeting on Aug. 9.