ST. LOUIS — Part of a plan for a drive-through marijuana dispensary in St. Louis' Soulard neighborhood has been shelved after multiple groups, including administrators at a local school, voiced their opposition.
The owners of the future Kind Goods may have dropped their idea of having a drive-through, but that’s not stopping them from moving ahead with plans to make it a dispensary.
“To this moment they’re actually clearing it out so they can open this in the near future,” said Dr. Katrice Nobel of Lift for Life Academy.
Under Missouri law, the dispensary would be illegal since it will sit roughly 150 feet from Lift for Life Academy.
“The state had a rule of 1,000 feet distance unless a local municipality changed that,” said Marshall Cohen, Executive Director of Lift for Life Academy. “Sure enough, the Board of Alderman approved it a couple of years ago removing that. That’s tough. We have to take care of our kids.”
“I’m appalled at it being directly across the street in an urban setting where I know it wouldn’t be in a county setting,” said Dr. Nobel. “You wouldn’t have this in Ladue. You wouldn’t have this in Rockwood. You wouldn’t have this in Clayton.”
That’s why administrators at Lift for Life are asking the Board of Alderman to reverse a 2020 decision dropping distance requirements on dispensaries near schools, churches and daycares.
“That loophole is only here in the city,” said Dr. Nobel. “The city where we are continuously spiraling you want to put a loophole so we can continue spiraling and going downward and going downwards.”
“I hear the concerns about the proximity of a dispensary to a school and my office is researching how other cities in Missouri have handled the distance requirement and we are working with our City’s Planning and Zoning departments to best understand the implications of different distance requirements,” said Alderwoman Cara Spencer in an email to Life for Life leadership. “I will also be taking a look at liquor sales and other controlled substances to round out our research and to ensure we are acting in a fair, measured and consistent manner.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura Jones sent 5 On Your Side this statement on the situation:
“Our office has heard from the community about these concerns, and recognize that their advocacy earned them a desired result through the Conditional Use hearing process. While this 2020 policy predates our administration, we will review it and determine the best steps forward to ensure we can address the concerns of the community.”
“Let’s do something and change this regulation and this law,” said Dr. Nobel. “Not just for Lift for Life Academy, but so that you don’t open this up in any other area where schools or students are being educated. Right now, it’s Lift for Life Academy. Next month it could be Vashon. It could be Sumner.
"It could be any of the other schools in your St. Louis city area and any of the other charter schools," Dr. Nobel said. Let’s do better because our students in the St. Louis city area deserve better.”
5 On Your Side reached out to the ownership group of Kind Goods Dispensaries, but at this point received a response.
Cohen says students at Lift for Life are organizing a protest of the dispensary, but have yet to decide on a date.