GRANITE FALLS
— A long-shuttered cabinet manufacturing facility in Yellow Medicine County will be re-purposed as an indoor growing facility for cannabis.

The
Yellow Medicine County Board of Commissioners
on Tuesday voted 4-1 to approve a conditional use permit for G and L LLC of New York, New York.

Company representatives told the commissioners that owners Gilberto Mercado and Michael A. Rodriguez hope to begin operations in January. They expect to employ 15 to 20 full-time employees along with 10 part-time workers as cultivation gets underway.

The company will be converting three buildings for marijuana cultivation that are part of the former Archon Woodworks site located immediately north of
Wood Lake,
a small community of 376 people. Archon Woodworks, formerly Hoffco, ceased operations there in March 2019. It represented a loss of 50 to 60 jobs for the area.

The county’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the permit for G and L LLC with nine conditions. They include security requirements and a prohibition on processing, manufacturing or retail sales at the site. They also include a requirement that the facility not have any signs or advertising on its exterior.

The county commissioners added a 10th condition at the suggestion of County Attorney Mark Gruenes. It requires that the company designate an in-state representative for the permit.

Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune

One person voiced objections to the permit at the commissioners’ meeting.

“This is going to be putting a seal of approval on marijuana for the kids,” Mark Hoeper, of Granite Falls, told the commissioners prior to their vote at the Oct. 28 meeting. ”Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” he said.

Commissioner Mitch Kling said the Planning Commission heard similar concerns about the potential impact on youth expressed at a public hearing held one week earlier on the permit. The commission also heard support for the jobs the new business will create and its investment in the former manufacturing site, Kling said.

Board Chair John Berends told Hoeper that the commissioners have to follow state statutes in considering a permit for the business.

“If we were voting on legalizing marijuana, it would be a much different outcome from this board,” said the board chair.

Commissioner Ron Antony said they have to treat the business as an agricultural operation under state law.

“Doing it as best as we can to not affect our local community,” he said.

Commissioners Kling and Glen Kack made the motion to approve the permit, and Antony and Berends also voted for it. Greg Renneke voted no.

Representing G and L LLC at the meeting were Trent Thies, a value-added real estate developer who owns the property after purchasing it at a bank sale, and Jared Schroeder, of Meta Commercial Cannabis.

According to its website,
Meta Commercial Cannabis
is a Minnesota-based consulting firm that specializes in helping cannabis entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of the industry.

Schroeder told the commissioners that the operations will not adversely affect the community. The cannabis will never be seen outside of the buildings, and there is no odor. The operations involve only cultivation. There will be no retail sales. The product will be transported by box trucks and vans to other locations for processing.

The two representatives said the owners and their families intend to move to the community. Schroeder said they are very committed to community, and in assuring that the product is available only to adults.

Thies and Schroeder told the West Central Tribune that the cultivation facility will help meet a major and fast-growing demand for its product as newly licensed cannabis dispensaries open in the state.

They explained that the Wood Lake buildings represent an opportunity for Mercado and Rodriguez, the owners of G and L LLC. As a former manufacturing site, the buildings already have the electrical infrastructure and open interior space needed for conversion to their new purpose.

The company will be leasing approximately 36,000 square feet of the approximately 100,000 square feet of buildings on the site. G and L LLC is interested in possible expansion at the site, Thies said, but added that he is also marketing the available space for other potential commercial or warehouse uses.

The current plans for the site involve only cultivation. The owners could consider some processing at the site in the future, but would need a new permit to do so, according to Thies and Schroeder.

Jolene Johnson, planning and zoning director for
Yellow Medicine County,
said G and L LLC was pre-approved by the state of Minnesota for cannabis cultivation pending county approval. She said the operations are subject to an extensive set of licensing requirements as overseen by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management. The security requirements include fencing and video monitoring and a controlled locking system on all doors.

Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune