PORT ORANGE — A medical marijuana dispensary won't be housed in a Nova Road shopping plaza after a children's dance school owner raised an objection.

Atlanta-based Surterra Therapeutics, one of seven medical cannabis license holders in the state, had sought to establish a Port Orange dispensary in the Tuscan Village Shoppes plaza, just south of Madeline Avenue. The city planning board approved of the company’s plan in a 5-1 vote April 27.

According to the city, the owner of the Tuscan Village Shoppes pulled support Monday, the day before it was to be heard by the City Council. But word of the official change to the agenda had not yet reached Legacy Dance Academy owner Shannon Thomas, who showed up at the city meeting to object to the dispensary's proposed location and what she considers a flaw in the city’s land development code.

After the council meeting where she was accompanied by nearly 20 parents and dance students, Thomas said she understands medical marijuana dispensaries are legal in Florida.

“We’re more worried about the proximity of the children and we just felt that we weren’t considered.”

Thomas' school has occupied a space at the Tuscan Village Shoppes for about two years. About 120 of her students are under age 10 and the rest are in middle and high school. After-school activities aren’t officially considered a place where children gather according to the city’s land development code, but Thomas thinks they should be.

Thomas said she just wants leaders to consider after-school activities in the future.

“This is a very passionate subject for me. This is the place that you come to get away from those things," Thomas said in her studio Wednesday afternoon. "That’s why I felt I had to fight so hard for this.”

Thomas said she was also frustrated because she didn’t hear about the project until last week.

Economic Development Director Wayne Clark said the special-exception use requires all adjacent property owners be contacted by the city, but Thomas is a tenant.

Clark said the city strongly encouraged the owner early on in the process to reach out to his tenants.

“It’s not a traditional use. It’s something new,” Clark said. "It’s not like you were lobbying for an office supply store where you probably wouldn’t bother to tell your tenants.”

Dahyabhia Patel, owner of Tuscan Village Shoppes, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

Council reacts

Although the City Council did not take up the issue Tuesday night, several council members weighed in anyway.

“It shows how the system does work,” said Councilman Bob Ford of the decision by the owner to pull his support. “This council — I think I’m speaking for all of us — does not want to locate a marijuana dispensary next to anything involving children.”

Ford also questioned what, exactly, he could be allowing, since the Florida Legislature has not made any regulations official as of yet.

“It’s been very clear from listening to the state officials that they’re going to come back and revisit it again,” said Ford of the potential regulations in limbo since the end of the legislative session. Lawmakers have alluded to a possible special session on medical marijuana but no dates have been set. “The courts have ordered us to find a place for the city to put it. But it’s unfair because we don’t know what we’re putting there.”

Councilman Chase Tramont, a Spruce Creek High School history teacher, also voiced concerns.

“I recognize that 71 percent of this county voted it in, so it’s coming,” said Councilman Tramont. “But I also want to point out that 71 percent did not vote for the location … and that’s where the argument really was.”

Clark said the proposal for that location is dead without the plaza owner's support. He hadn't heard of any alternate locations being considered.

Surterra searching

A spokesperson for Surterra said they are looking into locations throughout the state and in the meantime will continue to deliver locally.

“Obviously we’re disappointed because we were very excited about being a part of the Port Orange community,” said Monica Russell, director of public relations for Surterra. "We want to go into places where people want us."

Russell regretted not having been able to speak with Thomas before the proposal fell through.

“I wish we had been given more time to make people comfortable with who we are and what we’re doing,” Russell said. “It’s a new industry and people are scared of what they don’t know.”