A medical cannabis dispensary is coming to Douglas. At last week’s city commission meeting, commissioners granted a variance to TMC Apothecary to open a medical cannabis facility.
The location of the dispensary is the old Lillie’s Café building on West Baker Highway. On November 1 of last year, commissioners discussed the possibilities of dispensaries coming to town and were informed that variance requests were likely coming. State law says that dispensaries cannot be withing 1,000 feet of a school, church, or early care/education program. However, state law gives municipalities the power to grant variances in relation to the 1,000 foot restrictions.
TMC Apothecary is the first local pharmacy to ask for such a variance; it is located within 1,000 feet of two churches on Shirley Avenue and Baker Highway. The commission held a public hearing at the meeting and no one voiced any opinion for or against the variance. Commissioners approved the request unanimously. “There’s not a pharmacy in town that isn’t located within 1,000 feet of a church or school,” said Mayor Tony Paulk.
Commissioners also approved an alcoholic beverage license for Jay Madi 5 LLC at 1020 Baker Highway, the convenience store located at the intersection of East Baker Highway and the bypass.
The commission approved a revised language access plan for the Department of Community Affairs and other federally funded grant programs, named Michael Hill and Wendy Russ to the Keep Douglas Beautiful board, and approved advertising vacancies for five other city boards and commissions: WWII Flight Training Base Committee, DDA, Historic Preservation Commission, Keep Douglas Beautiful Committee, and the Planning Commission.
The city also announced that the next commission meeting will be held on Thursday, December 12, due to a conference most commissioners will be attending.