SAFFORD — The Graham County Planning and Zoning Commission is taking a wait-and-see approach to new re-zoning requests for the growing of cannabis.
At its most recent meeting, the commission voted unanimously to table two requests to re-zone parcels on Brookerson Road, near the Cochise County border, from the current Agriculture (A) zone to Unlimited Manufacturing (MX) zone for the purpose of off-site cultivation of marijuana.
“Off-site cultivation means it’s not going to be distributed at the same point it’s going to be grown,” said Planning and Zoning Director Steve McGaughey. “The license, I think, is held by the person who is going to sell it, and this is their off-site grow.”
The commission’s decision to delay action follows a recent request to change the county’s zoning code by a property owner in Geronimo. The proposed change is that, instead of re-zoning property for marijuana growing, to allow it in the A zone with conditions or a conditional use permit.
The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of changing the zoning code; however, it is the Board of Supervisors who will take final action on the proposal during a meeting in November.
The Brookerson Road parcels are the fourth and fifth marijuana growing-related re-zoning requests heard by the county over the last year. The Board of Supervisors approved two — one in Eden and the other for two of the NatureSweet greenhouse complexes in Bonita — while rejecting a third in Geronimo.
The approved re-zoning of the NatureSweet greenhouse complexes has been challenged by referendum, and Graham County voters can either affirm or deny the supervisors’ re-zoning on the Nov. 8 ballot.
