Jacqui and Stan Mills put over a million dollars into a cannabis grow and processing business on the outskirts of their hometown of Goldsby. The hope was to build a business they could pass on to their son Ian, a business college grad who currently serves as the company's director of operations and marketing. Those dreams were cast in doubt, however, when they were surprised by proposed zoning rules making their way through the town's government.
That proposed ordinance first considered in September would have eliminated the town's exemption for their kind of business to be on anything but industrially zoned land.
The Mills and other cannabis business owners showed up to the town's planning commission meeting that month in opposition. A compromise of sorts was introduced at the panel's next meeting in November. The reworked proposal still removes the exemption, but existing businesses like the Mills' would have 15 years to comply with industrial zoning rules.
"It's kind of a kiss of death for us because yes, we can continue to operate, but we cannot expand," Jacqui Mills said. "If the building blows away we can't rebuild it."
Read the complete article at oklahoman.com.