ANN ARBOR, MI – A 500-plant marijuana grow operation is moving into a roughly 17,000-square-foot facility in an Ann Arbor research park, and some of its business neighbors aren’t happy.

The city Planning Commission voted unanimously this past week to approve the Scientific Method facility at 3935 Research Park Drive, off South State Street just south of I-94.

The plans show roughly 3,000 square feet of office space, with the rest of the building dedicated to growing and processing marijuana, including a large flowering room, cloning and drying rooms, large water tank storage areas, and trimming/packaging areas.

Drew Hutton is the owner of the companies behind it, including Scientific Method Research II LLC for the growing center and Scientific Method Technology LLC for the processing center.

Representatives from the Damian Farrell Design Group, the project architect, appeared before the commission, discussing landscaping improvements planned for the site, as well as a security plan that includes perimeter fencing, lighting, surveillance and alarms.

While there won’t be 24-hour security personnel onsite, there will be a 360-degree camera, an alarm system that alerts police and 24-hour surveillance by a security company, they said.

Ann Arbor has approved 25 medical marijuana dispensaries this year, along with four processing facilities, three grow facilities and one safety compliance facility. The city has capped the number of allowable dispensaries in the city at 28 for now.

A representative of Zoller Inc., a global manufacturing company that has its North American headquarters across the street from the new grow operation in the research park, read a statement from the company at the Planning Commission meeting, voicing concerns.

Zoller fears having a marijuana grow operation there could bring security concerns and nuisance odors and make Zoller more vulnerable to criminal activity. The company also argues a marijuana grow operation isn’t a good fit for the park and could bring down property values and cause high-tech companies to leave.

Justin Bagdady, an attorney representing Intech Ventures, a business that has two buildings next door, raised similar concerns.

“They’ve put up a large masonry fence and then some wire fence with barbed wire on top. It looks, frankly, like a prison and it’s right next to my client’s facility, staring right at it,” he said.

Bagdady argued the business is illegal under federal law and if it shuts down the three-acre property will look like an abandoned prison.

He also noted Progress Park, a school for students with severe behavioral, emotional and mental health needs, is located nearby. Though it meets a 1,000-foot buffer requirement, he said, that ought to be given serious consideration.

Planning commissioners weren’t swayed and didn’t share the same fears, though they did get the architect to agree the barbed wire would come down.

Addressing the concerns about potential marijuana odor, Brett Lenart, the city’s planning manager, said city ordinances do not allow odors to emanate beyond property lines for any land use and the city could issue citations for any violations.

Commercial-grade HEPA air filtration systems with charcoal filters are to be used for odor control, with all products stored in airtight containers and marijuana waste sent off for composting.

The facility’s approved hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

“If this business is operating the way that it has to under state and local law, people won’t know what it is,” said Zachary Ackerman, the City Council’s liaison to the Planning Commission.

“With respect to the high-tech nature of the area and the research district, I think whether or not we like it, marijuana is going to be here for some time,” he added. “And in its medical nature, processing is a medical research service. And in its recreational use, it’s research in a consumer good. I have a hard time drawing a line between saying that research is intended solely for high-tech companies.”

Farrell pointed to an April 2018 Ann Arbor Observer article titled “The Underwhelming History of the Ann Arbor Research Park,” written by local historian Grace Shackman. It describes how the research park project launched by the Greater Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce in 1959 never really took off as envisioned.

“The Ann Arbor Research Park was built to lure corporate research facilities to Ann Arbor, but today only six of its twenty-seven buildings are devoted to research. Most are occupied by nonprofits and others needing inexpensive office space. Four are currently for sale and others are underused, judging from the scarcity of cars in their parking lots. Five empty lots overgrown with weeds make the park look even more forlorn,” Farrell read from the article.

“I think that the nature of this park has changed from its original intention,” Farrell told commissioners, suggesting a marijuana growing and processing facility isn’t out of place there.

Farrell noted new landscaping is being added to improve the site, including planting several trees that aren’t required.

Commissioner Erica Briggs said she appreciated that and encouraged continued discussions with neighbors about the aesthetics and other ways to alleviate some of their concerns.

“I know sometimes when these have come up before that we have seen a lot of fear around it, and a lot of it is just misunderstanding of how the process works,” she said. “I think those subsequent meetings could help to alleviate some of those fears, even if their desire would be to see you gone. At least they might feel more secure understanding really how the process is going to work and that it’s not necessarily going to end up a detriment to their own businesses.”