Plans stoked for first pot shop

Trulieve proposes Maricopa’s first marijuana dispensary in an effort to relieve a growing need for weed in a fast-growing city. 

The company based in Quincy, Fla., has already established 20 recreational and medicinal marijuana shops around Arizona. 

In a project narrative released today by the city of Maricopa through a public records request, Trulieve proposes a 3,536-square-foot building with 28 parking spaces at a future shopping center that includes a Lowe’s Home Improvement store on the southeast corner of West Honeycutt Road and John Wayne Parkway. The pot shop would employ a staff of up to 25 people, the narrative states. 

Formerly known as Harvest Health & Recreation, founded in Arizona in 2011, Trulieve is the largest marijuana retailer in the state with several cultivation and manufacturing facilities statewide. Trulieve employs 850 Arizonans. 

The cannabis products chain also has stores in Florida and Pennsylvania. 

One of the goals and objectives the company proposes is “to bring a marijuana dispensary to an area of the state where demand is high and growing, noting that 64% of the [Maricopa] voting population supported Proposition 207, legalizing the sale of marijuana for adult-use purposes in the November 2020 election.” 

The narrative says the property is proposed in “a growing commercial corridor in Maricopa.” 

“To the northwest is the Exceptional Community Hospital, compatible with the use, and makes the dispensary well positioned for providing medical cannabis to healthcare patients,” company officials say. 

The pot shop’s location is legally covered by city general commercial zoning, which includes required distances such as 250 feet from residential zones and 500 feet away from daycare centers, public or private parks, civic facilities, religious facilities, and group and residential care homes. The proposed location meets the 1,500-foot distance requirement from public and private schools. 

The business would install security cameras and take other security precautions, according to the narrative. 

Trulieve of Maricopa would operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., the legal hours allowed by the state unless expanded by the city government. 

The company supports cancer research and cancer survivor groups, The Brett Hundley Foundation for Epilepsy and Disabled American Veterans, as well as supporting and working with local food banks, its project narrative states. 

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