Klutch Cannabis has set its sights on Akron as home for its next dispensary.
According to Akron Planning Commission documents, Klutch wants to build a single story, flat roof, 2,480-square-foot dispensary on the vacant lot at 1956 W. Market Street. The site as at the corner of Market and Frank Boulevard, near Ken Stewart’s Grille and next door to Pink Petals Florist. The lot sits across Frank from Taco Bell and a Quality Scrub Car Wash. For the project to move forward, the city must approve its conditional use permit request and the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control also must sign off.
The documents say Klutch intends to operate the dispensary daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Residents interested in learning more about the proposed marijuana dispensary are in luck. Ward 8 councilman Bruce Bolden is hosting a representative from Klutch to discuss the project at his July 16 Ward meeting at the Northwest Family Recreation Center at 1730 Shatto Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The proposal was introduced June 13 to Akron’s Planning Commission, which decided to take time on the matter and allow the Traffic Department to consider the dispensary’s impact on the neighborhood, wrote Signal Akron Documenter Gigi Fuhry. On July 10, when the commission again considered the item, they voted to recommend approval of the plan.
Akron City Council is holding a hearing on the matter on July 28 at 5 p.m. in council chambers, located on the third floor of City Hall, 166 S. High Street. It will also be discussed during council’s 1 p.m. Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting.
All public hearing participants who want to join remotely must provide an email address and phone number at which they can be reached to sbiviano@akronohio.gov no later than July 24.
Those who don’t appear, but wish to express support or opposition to the project may do so, in writing, by emailing their remarks to sbiviano@akronohio.gov by no later than 4 p.m. on July 24.
Council will ultimately decide on whether or not to grant Klutch’s request for a conditional use permit.
Tango Ventures LLC., — known commonly as Klutch Cannabis — is Akron-local with a cultivation facility in Cuyahoga Falls and dispensaries in Northfield, Canton, Cleveland, Lorain and Loudonville.
Here’s what we know about the plan.
Planning Commission documents say the area is zoned retail on the north, south, and east sides. The west side of the parcel is zoned residential and retail, with apartments located on South Pershing Ave., directly behind Ken Stewart’s.
A six-foot high wooden fence along the western property line would shield the apartments from customer traffic.
Fuhry wrote that at the June 13 Planning Commission meeting, Ken Stewart and his attorney opposed the plan because the dispensary would worsen already troublesome parking and traffic situations, citing regular traffic jams and his on-site employees that park there.
Fuhry wrote that Stewart said employees and security for the dispensary would monopolize half of the parking.
“The existing parking lot to the south along Frank Boulevard will be reconfigured to accommodate 22 parkingspaces,” Planning Commission documents say. “The frontage along Frank Boulevard will be landscaped.”
The owner of the building that formerly housed Larry’s Main Entrance said LRC Realty told them it would be a dog wash/grooming business, and were pressured to sell to Klutch, Fuhry wrote. Additionally, they wrote that another building owner was concerned that the dispensary would change the neighborhood’s character, though they weren’t opposed to the business itself.
A representative from Klutch, Fuhry wrote, said they anticipate roughly 100 five-to-ten minute daily transactions, with scheduled pickups for online sales.
Fuhry said the Klutch representative said they intend to hire 10 full-time, on-site employees, bringing the payroll to $400,000.
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413.