School district opposes pot shop near high school

In a previously unreported letter to the city a year ago, Maricopa Unified School District leaders and administrators voiced strong opposition to a marijuana dispensary proposed a stone’s throw from a high school.

In response, the weed retailer backed out and submitted a new proposal, this time more than twice the distance from a school.

Today, however, the district’s position remains the same.

“No, the District has not softened its position,” MUSD spokesperson Mishell Terry said after pot franchise Trulieve this week proposed a location with legal distances away from Maricopa High School and Maricopa Wells Middle School.

MUSD’s governing board and superintendent in 2023 protested the pot shop’s original proposed location within 600 feet of MHS and less than a quarter mile from Maricopa Wells. The new location proposed this week meets the 1,500-foot distance requirement from public and private schools, required under state law.

“While we acknowledge the effort to relocate the dispensary further away from our schools, the MUSD maintains its opposition to the presence of a retail cannabis store/dispensary anywhere in Maricopa,” Terry said. “We firmly believe that a cannabis retail chain in our city poses significant risks to the health, safety and overall development of our students.”

Trulieve’s most recent location proposal, which includes building a dispensary, is southeast of the intersection of John Wayne Parkway and West Honeycutt Road. As proposed, it would be part of a new shopping center alongside a Lowe’s Home Improvement store.

MUSD Supt. Tracey Lopeman, in a March 2023 letter to the city of Maricopa’s planning services department, stated the district’s position about the original proposal: “This proposed location would put a cannabis retail chain in the heart of a neighborhood, constantly exposing students to the promotion of cannabis use with a tremendous impact on their health and safety. An additional threat to safety of children lies in the nature of a business that demands extensive security as part of its daily operation. The need for extensive security illuminates risks associated with this business and its proximity to a school. Finally, increased traffic flow in an already congested area will negatively impact school dismissal as well as add additional time to MUSD bus routes. I respectfully ask that you reject the application proposal from Trulieve Cannabis to open a retail location this close to our school properties.”

The pot shop’s latest location proposal would be 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 business would install security cameras and take other security precautions, according to Trulieve’s narrative to the city.

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.