Credit: Amanda Kuehnle/LevittownNow.com
Falls Township officials have granted approval for amended final plans for a marijuana growing and processing facility at the old US Steel site.
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Final land development approval was granted by officials in August but changes have since been made.
Original plans for the 32-acre parcel at 150 Roebling Road included the demolition of existing structures and the construction of two nearly identical facilities, one independent marijuana growing and processing facility and another which would partner with a medical research facility. Plans have since been amended to include the use of three existing buildings on the property and the construction of a 3,000-square-foot building which, for security purposes, would join the three buildings into one.
The independent facility did not receive approval in the early stages, so this singular facility would include one greenhouse and cannabis head house used by MLH Explorations LLC in conjunction with a medical entity – alleged to be the Jefferson Health System. The collaboration, which will be used to dispense medical marijuana and research its effect on 17 approved medical conditions, was approved by special exception by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in April 2016. That special exception – Chapter 20 – allows companies to work direct with medical facilities to cultivate and analyze the effects of medical marijuana within the state.
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An attorney for the project noted that medical research facilities have not yet accepted applications for collaborations, so no licenses as of yet have been issued. This project is contingent upon that approval.
Although MLH Explorations received preliminary approval in August for a secondary independent greenhouse and cannabis head house, PharmaCann LLC, the prospected user of the independent facility, was not approved for licensure by the state in a later round.
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The facility will use existing storm water channels, which are already equipped to handle the facility.
“This is obviously a new kind of operation for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Falls Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Harvie over the summer.
