Pikesville residents gathered Tuesday in a Towson hearing room, waiting patiently on benches to voice their fears about and opposition to a proposed medical cannabis dispensary in their community.
The dispensary might be a magnet for crime, they told a zoning appeals board Tuesday. There could be unsavory people loitering around the business. Traffic could get worse. It could be converted to selling recreational marijuana, if that’s ever legalized, they said.
STATE BY STATE: Maryland Cannabis News
More than a dozen people came to the Baltimore County Board of Appeals meeting Tuesday to protest a plan by Temescal Wellness to put a dispensary in a vacant strip mall at 1636 Reisterstown Road. Because the property is in the county’s Pikesville Commercial Revitalization Area, the company must obtain a special zoning exception.
“This particular use is a real threat to the health, safety and welfare of the communities around it,” said Howard Needle, a longtime community activist and former politician leading the charge against the dispensary with his Pikesville neighbors.
Temescal is one of a handful of proposed Baltimore County dispensaries seeking zoning approvals, according to county records. They all face a state-imposed deadline of Dec. 8 to open or risk losing their licenses.
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