SAFFORD — Bayacan will try once again to obtain the zoning that will allow it to cultivate medical-grade cannabis in greenhouses in Bonita purchased from NatureSweet.
Bayacan’s rezoning application will be heard by Graham County Planning and Zoning Commission at a public hearing Wednesday, at 9 a.m., at the General Services Building. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Graham County Board of Supervisors for final action its June 21 meeting.
Graham County code requires marijuana operations to take place in unlimited manufacturing land use (M-X) zone, which is why Bayacan is seeking a change from general land use (A zoning), under which the NatureSweet greenhouse site currently operates.
Bayacan officials said the company is seeking to hire 150 people for the first phase of development, at a starting salary of about $35,000 per year plus benefits. At build-out, the company expects to employ about 600.
Bayacan previously submitted a rezoning application, but withdrew the application in December following a negative recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and an unwillingness by the Board of Supervisors to postpone its hearing.
NatureSweet
Should the re-zoning application be approved, NatureSweet officials said Site 6 would be sold to Bayacan, with selling Site 5 also a possibility.
Meanwhile, NatureSweet will turn Sites 1 and 2 into research and development facilities, which is why NatureSweet officials recently met with Eastern Arizona College leadership about partnership opportunities.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with how receptive (everyone was), and the great questions,” said Skip Hewitt, NatureSweet VP and general counsel. “There just seems to be an excitement about this effort.”
Dr. Susan Wood, vice president for academic and student affairs at EAC, suggested bringing in the land grant colleges of University of Arizona and New Mexico State University to assist with research, which would Eastern students exposure to graduate programs.
“For EA, I see it being our undergraduate students who get to experience agriculture and biology in a facility,” Wood said. “That might help them see, ‘Oh, wow, I could go to a land-grant institution, I could finish my bachelor’s in science, I could do a masters and maybe there’s a PhD in my future.’ Just to be able to see that this is a career.”
If the re-zoning is not approved, NatureSweet said it would completely decommission the Bonita facility due to unprofitability, laying off about 250 workers.
