Medical marijuana facility receives zoning approval in Rostraver Township
The Rostraver Zoning Board backtracked from their initial decision for a 45 day grace period to decide on a medical cannabis production plant in Rostraver. Stuart Boyd, vice chairman (left); John Bedell, secretary and Tony Boscan, chairman discussed the decision to approve the zoning with solicitor Mark Shire with the insistance of Maitri Medicinals representatives as their application acceptance for state approval opens within a few weeks.
Lori C. Padilla
Rostraver Township resident Linda Lesnak (left) addressed the zoning board, Wednesday, with her concerns about the approval of a medical marijuana facility. Maitri Medicinals CEO Corinne Ogrodnik answered questions about security, operations and community involvement.
Lori C. Padilla
Maitri Medicinals CEO Corinne Ogrodnik (center), flanked by COO Laura Lawrence and legal council Bill Wicker, explains the steps the company is taking to be able to become one of two processing plants of medical marijuana in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
ROSTRAVER — The township zoning hearing board on Wednesday approved a special exception for a proposed medical marijuana production and processing facility.
Board members unanimously voted in favor of the exception requested by Corinne Ogrodnik, CEO of Maitri Medicinals.
Ogrodnik, of Bethel Park, said was pleased with the board’s ruling.
“We appreciate their support,” she said, after the hearing.
The exception would allow Maitri to open in a 37,000-square-foot building zoned for light manufacturing at 316 Finley Road owned by Vesely Brothers Properties.
The approval allows Maitri to apply to the state Department of Health for a permit to operate by the Feb. 20 deadline, she said.
If proposed state legislation permitting the use of medical marijuana is approved this summer, Maitri would start growing plants in January 2018 after state licensed dispensaries open, Ogrodnik said.
She told the board that 3,000-5,000 medical cannabis plants would be grown inside the building and processing equipment would extract cannabis oil from the plants.
The oil would be placed in capsules and lotions and distributed to dispensaries, where patients with medical marijuana prescriptions could buy it, she said.
The facility would meet regulations in the proposed legislation requiring security cameras that view the entire property, she said.
Responding to a question from a resident, Ogrodnik said security would be in place 24 hours a day and a security staff would be employed.
She said no other changes would be made to the building or parking lot.
The facility would operate 40 hours a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Ogrodnik said, adding that the proposed law allows only employees inside the building.
Plants would be grown in pots in a 10,000-square-foot area and the processing machines, which produce 62 decibels of noise, would occupy about 400 square feet. The rest of the building would be used for offices, storage and manufacturing, she said.
The plants would be grown in raised beds without soil using state of the art equipment, she said.
Some of the cannabis would contain psychoactive material for patients with post traumatic stress disorder and cancer, but some plants won’t have any, she said.
The building will have an advanced heating, ventilating and air conditioning system with air filters, she said.
One or two deliveries a week would be made from the facility, but that number would grow with the business, Ogrodnik said.
Up to 50 people would eventually be employed, she said. Background checks of employees are required under the proposed law, she said.
“We feel this would be a big benefit to the community,” Ogrodnik said.
The proposed law requires manufacturers to account for “every seed” and includes strict oversight of the industry, she said. All transaction have to be entered into a real time reporting system operated by the state, she added.
Waste removal is required under the proposal law for plant leaves and other waste, Ogrodnik said.
Maitri would support the Belle Vernon Area School District’s opioid outreach programs, she said.
She said it is her understanding that two manufacturing facility licenses will be allocated for southwestern Pennsylvania and a dispensary could open in Westmoreland County.
The law would allow cannabis to be prescribed for 17 medical conditions including epilepsy, autism and chronic pain, Ogrodnik said.