A company planning on opening the first medical marijuana dispensary in Bridgeport is not giving up on utilizing the city as a site for one of its planned 10 dispensaries statewide, according to an official with the company.

 

According to Community Engagement Manager for Firelands Scientific, the plans are to find a place within the city limits of Bridgeport. Right now, she said there is no timeline.

 

“We are absolutely still interested, and the goal is to definitely find a place,” said Marti. “Bridgeport is one of the cities we want to be in.”

 

Initially, it appeared that would be the case. A special City Council and Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting was held Feb. 10 for the company, which appeared as Mountaineer ReLeaf on the agenda, to provide information as to their plans.

 

The plan was to use one of the company’s 10 retail licenses to open a dispensary in Bridgeport. After roughly a one-hour meeting, featuring no opposition, the next step was to get the matter approved by the BZA. The meeting on Feb. 1 included granting a special permitted used to Mountaineer ReLeaf.

 

A few days later, a revised agenda was sent for the BZA meeting. The revision was the removal of the request for Mountaineer ReLeaf, which as it turns out had nothing to do with them wanting to be removed.

 

“The property owner retracted their lease, which happens in the business world,” said Marti.

 

The property owner was Blake Enterprises. The dispensary was going to be relocated in 4,000 square feet of the 10,000 square foot former Eastern Pet Supply building on Johnson Avenue that is visible from Interstate 79. A city official previously confirmed the lease retraction as well, but did not know why.

 

While having I-79 visibility is preferred, Marti said the company is hoping to find a place with easy access off the interstate. Bridgeport should be able to provide the space with an existing building or even land.

 

“Bridgeport is right off the highway, and it is in an area where patients don’t have access to medical cannabis at the moment,” said Marti. “We’d like to make that one of our homes if we can find the space.”

 

Marti said the Bridgeport site would have been one of the company’s largest. A dispensary in Huntington is smaller, she said, so space does not have to be at 4,000 square feet.

 

 The company plans to open four dispensaries this summer starting with Parkersburg and Huntington followed by Charleston and Beckley. A Morgantown site may open this year, but if it does not it will see a 2023 opening, said Marti.

 

For those who may be confused about the different names involved, Marti provided a breakdown of how the company’s configuration. It is as follows:

 

HillFire Medical Cannabis and The Landing Cannabis Dispensary are the partnership of West Virginia Companies Tariff Labs, (founded by David Heeter of Spencer, WV) and Mountaineer Relief (founded by Michael Clark of Pleasants County, WV) with Firelands Scientific (CEO Jeff McCourt of Huron, Oh). HillFire is our grow and processing facility located in Millwood, WV and is currently in operation. The Landing is the name of our 10 dispensaries that will be located throughout the state and will be the home of our HillFire products.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Rob McCourt with HillFire Medical Cannabis, while the initial location that did not work out is shown below.