Middlefield Village Planning and Zoning Commission approved Green Leaf Ohio’s plans for construction of a medical marijuana greenhouse on state Route 528 May 7.
Middlefield Village Planning and Zoning Commission approved Green Leaf Ohio’s plans for construction of a medical marijuana greenhouse on state Route 528 May 7.
The Akron-based company started construction of its medical marijuana processing facility earlier this spring. The presentation to the commission last Tuesday focused on the first greenhouse the company plans to build on the 7.88-acre parcel just within village limits, said architect Kevin Oliver.
The peaked-roof, single-story greenhouse will have glass only on the roof to let in daylight when it is most effective for the plants, Oliver said.
The walls will be made of insulated metal panels. If grow lights need to be on before dawn or after dark, blackout curtains will block the light so it doesn’t show outside, he said.
A dehumidification system will control the humidity, eliminate odors and get rid of particles in the air, and any air going out of the building will go through a charcoal filter first, he said.
A generator will be installed in case the area suffers a power outage, Oliver said, adding the operation will use about 5,000 gallons of water a day from the village wells.
Green Leaf’s plan is to make full use of the parcel, which will be entirely enclosed with a 10-foot-high, steel mesh security fence.
“We can just get 75,000 square feet (of structure) on that property,” Oliver said last Tuesday.
As one of the largest licensed processing facilities in Ohio, the Green Leaf operation will be able to process marijuana grown elsewhere as well at that grown in the local greenhouses, he said.
Oliver estimated the green house will take 12 to 14 months to build and he expects the processing facility to be up and running in a few months.
“The goal is October. We want it to be operating as soon as possible,” he said.
Depending on demand, other greenhouses may be built, said Kate Nelson, chief operating officer for The Botanist Ohio and an owner of Green Leaf Ohio.
Green Leaf Ohio applied for its license in December 2017, received it in August last year and purchased the property in September. So far, about $3 million has been invested in the project, not including nearly half a million dollars in the property, Nelson said.
The highly-specialized operation with extraction rooms, packaging areas and a commercial kitchen will initially employ about 20 people, and the various forms of medical marijuana produced will be distributed via box truck to state-licensed dispensaries, she said last year.
