A project to bring a medical marijuana dispensary to the Oregon District was approved in December 2018 following months of intense scrutiny, according to a WHIO report.
The community and historic preservation board previously expressed discontent with the design of the building. Its original design was described as looking too much, “like a Wendy’s,” Dayton local Nicole Steel said in an interview with WHIO.
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The dispensary, proposed by CannAscend Ohio, is planned be located at 333 Wayne Ave., which is the site of a former service station built in 1947, according to a report from WHIO. Rachel Bankowitz, Dayton’s historic preservation officer, told WHIO that the dispensary would not match the original building’s architectural period.
“It’s within the boundaries, so we do have to make sure that whatever happens there is complementary to the district,” she told WHIO.
Members of the Dayton Landmark Commission also criticized the dispensary’s original design, claiming that it was too suburban, according to WHIO. Neighbors complained that the design did not fit in with the architecture of the Oregon District, according to WHIO.
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The commission asked the dispensary’s architect to submit a revised design, which was presented last month. Although half a dozen citizens issued complaints about the project, the commission expressed unanimous approval toward the redesigns, issuing a major certificate of appropriateness, according to WHIO.
The Oregon District Society Board of Trustees voted to oppose the redesign but they do not have authority to deny the project, according to WHIO.
With approval from the commission, plans for the dispensary will move forward. It will join about 13 other medical marijuana dispensaries in the Dayton region, according to WHIO.
