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Kent County hears public comment on zoning change to allow cannabis processors
Summary
Planning staff and the planning commission recommended a zoning text amendment to clarify cannabis processing rules; the applicant told commissioners it needs the change to keep a conditional state license and finish by June; concerns about potential odors and neighbor mediation were raised and public comment remains open through Jan. 16.
Planning staff presented an amended zoning text intended to clarify how Kent County regulates cannabis processing and said the planning commission found the change served the public interest and aligned with the comprehensive plan and the Unified Development Ordinance.
At a public hearing, an applicant representative identified the business as Numa Solventless (transcribed elsewhere in the record as pneumatically spelled variants). Ryan Wesson, described in the record as a company representative, told commissioners the firm holds a conditional state processing license issued by a lottery that required finalizing the business within 18 months; the company received a six‑month extension and "we have until June to finalize our business," he said. The applicant said the amendment would permit processing of multiple cannabis products in a single commercial facility with town water and sewer, and that processors sell wholesale to licensed dispensaries and testing labs, not to individual consumers.
Commissioners pressed the applicant on potential neighborhood impacts, particularly odors. The applicant said processing is primarily indoors, uses subzero storage and HEPA‑grade HVAC filtration, and that odors are "much more minimal compared to any of the cultivation" operations. Planning and legal staff cautioned that the county must avoid unduly burdening licensed cannabis businesses under state law and that any specific odor or setback requirements would need to be crafted as ordinance language (potentially at a later reading) rather than as a license contingency.
Debbie Whipple, who identified herself as the applicant's mother, described touring other facilities and said she did not detect odors until entering processing buildings. Staff confirmed that no written correspondence had been received by the clerk as of the hearing but that "the public comment will remain open until close of business on the sixteenth," giving residents until Jan. 16 to submit remarks.
No final vote on the amendment was taken at the hearing; a motion was made and carried to close the public hearing and move back into executive session. Planning staff said they worked with the applicant on a narrower draft intended to meet the applicant's operational needs while remaining consistent with the county's approach to other cannabis activities.
What happens next: The county retains the draft zoning language and may consider ordinance amendments at subsequent readings where commissioners or staff could propose specific mitigation measures (for example, setback requirements or a mediation clause) if consistent with state limits on local regulation.
