Plans for the construction of a medical marijuana facility in Harrisburg’s South Allison Hill neighborhood are now before city council members for review, but they won’t be the only ones scrutinizing the proposal.
The CEO of Hamilton Health Center, located across South 17th Street from the proposed dispensary site, is already on record opposing the plan.
It’s a business that Jeannine Peterson says has no place in a low-income area populated by residents who will not be able to afford costly cannabis-based medicine, and she worries about the normalization of marijuana — a federally illegal drug — in a neighborhood crowded with children.
These are concerns she voiced at a public meeting earlier this year, when she criticized the project’s developers — Center Valley-based Local Dispensaries LLC — of not doing enough to provide information to community stakeholders or to develop an understanding of the neighborhood’s demographic makeup.
Peterson said she will continue to express those opinions as city council members prepare to vote on whether to approve the plans.
“My concerns definitely continue,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Later that evening, city council agreed to send land development plans for the dispensary at 137 S. 17th St. to one of its committees for discussion. After that discussion, the matter will go before council for a vote.
Peterson said she won’t be alone in speaking against the plan at that voting meeting. Other community members are upset about the proposal, too, she said. No one spoke out against the 17th street dispensary at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
The proposal, which already has been recommended for approval by a majority of the local planning commission, calls for a 3,000-square-foot, single-story building to be built on what is now a vacant lot, according to Geoffrey Knight, Harrisburg’s planning director.
Construction is expected to cost about $1.6 million. The owner, Local Dispensaries LLC has been approved by the state to operate a dispensary.
Its proximity to Hamilton Health Center has fueled at least some of Peterson’s worries.
Although Pennsylvania has legalized marijuana for medical uses, the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug. Hamilton Health Center receives “significant” federal funding, Peterson said. The health center cannot have any type of relationship with the dispensary because of marijuana’s federal classification, and if it does, it could lose those federal dollars.
That could be hard to explain to its patients, who Peterson anticipates will want to be referred to the nearby dispensary. She worries that those patients will become dissatisfied with Hamilton Health Center when it can’t make those referrals.
Making matters worse, Peterson said, a multi-million-dollar expansion of Hamilton is planned for a now-vacant lot adjacent to the health center. The planned expansion includes a daycare, she said. State law prohibits medical marijuana facilities from operating within close proximity to daycares and schools, but since the daycare doesn’t yet exist, the point is moot.
Peterson is concerned about how parents will feel about having their children so close to a business that sells marijuana.
“We are trying to change the perception, change that reality," Peterson said. “We don’t need to add to the negative perception of South Allison Hill.”
With that said, she also pointed out that South Allison Hill is a historically low-income area, and she doubts that local residents will be able to pay for what she called “expensive” medical marijuana products.
“Most residents can’t afford this medication,” Peterson said, guessing that most of the dispensary’s customers will be out-of-towners who will bring unwanted vehicle traffic to the area.
Local Dispensaries LLC, made little effort to engage community stakeholders before submitting plans for the dispensary, Peterson said, citing that as the chief reason she opposes the project. She said she is not generally opposed to medical marijuana.
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A message left for officials at Local Dispensaries LLC was not immediately returned.
Knight, Harrisburg’s planning director, said city officials also encouraged more community engagement.
“The planning bureau was aware that there would be opposition to this proposal and thus has advised the applicant to coordinate with nearby neighborhood organizations and the general community at large,” he said.
Building design expectations, as well as parking and traffic concerns, also were conveyed by city planning experts to Local Dispensaries LLC officials, Knight said, calling the area “a somewhat congested corridor.”
Some of those concerns already have been addressed, and others are outstanding, he said.
Lastly, Knight revealed that part of the planning process included a look at whether the addition of a medical marijuana dispensary would have any effect on neighborhood safety, specifically whether it would lead to additional crime in the area. Initially, city officials looked to statistics from California — where marijuana has been legal for years — but they determined a more localized approach would better answer their questions, Knight said.
“I’ve asked the police bureau for statistics regarding the recently-opened dispensary at 2504 North 6th Street to see if there’s been any change in criminal activity around that location,” he said.
Just earlier this year, city officials hosted a news conference, expressing an interest in ongoing development of the South Allison Hill neighborhood, as well as other areas ripe for redevelopment.
It is unclear exactly when city council members will vote to approve or deny the dispensary plans.
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