As expected, the Sedalia City Council rejected a special use permit request from Guesa, USA for a medical marijuana dispensary to be located in the former Union Savings Bank building at Main and Ohio.

Guesa USA owns the property at 101 South Ohio and applied for a special use permit from the City of Sedalia. However, the property did not fit the zoning requirements recently passed by City Council. The property is located less than 800 feet from a place of worship, and it needs to be at least 1,000. It is also falls just outside of a pre-determined area where the City will allow such facilities. At a previous meeting that focused on medical marijuana, Council decided that all dispensaries would need to be located on Broadway, Limit or West Main. The Guesa property sits on East Main, just across the street from the approved corridor.

In addition, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of the special use permit for a medical marijuana dispensary at the Main and Ohio location. The Council typically follows P&Z recommendations, it should be noted.

City Administrator Kelvin Shaw said that granting a special use permit in this case would set a “dangerous precedent” involving “speculative zoning.” Shaw also noted that the application period for such facilities through the state is now closed.

According to Shaw, the owner of the property submitted the request in hopes of making the former bank building more marketable.

In 2011, Union Savings Bank merged into and was subsequently operated as part of Third National Bank of Sedalia, which changed its name to Central Bank of Sedalia in June of 2015. It was unclear exactly when Guesa USA acquired the building.

Council voted unanimously to reject the special use permit request by Guesa USA.

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