WATONGA – A muchanticipated Monday meeting of the Watonga Planning and Zoning Committee had to be postponed after the committee didn’t have enough members present to proceed.
The committee was set to decide on a zoning change request for the vacant property at 106 W. A St., the former Dollar General location across the street from Bank7. The property is currently zoned for commercial use, but its owners are seeking to have it zoned for industrial use.
Forty Watonga residents have filed a protest against the zoning request, City Clerk Verlen Bills told the Watonga Republican.
The request was made by a company called Exalted Connoisseurs Inc. On Tuesday the Republican spoke to Dr. Thomas Johnson, who said the nature of his business is not what Watonga residents may have heard.
“I’m a biochemist,” Johnson explained. “I’ll say that first and foremost. It doesn’t have too much to do with cannabis itself. The endocannabinoid system has come up, and has become a portion of what we’re going to be doing, but it’s not our sole respect for it.”
The endocannabinoid system is a series of chemicals and receptors throughout the human body that was discovered during cannabis research, hence its name.
“It’s not what they think it is,” Johnson said. “I’m assuming they just think it’s cannabis-related, like we’re coming there to do some giant commercial grow in the middle of the city, and that’s not the case.”
Johnson said he wants to start a business in Watonga because he has family ties to the area. “They’re back from the Arapaho Indians, and a portion of my family being Cree and Blackfoot that kind of migrated down south and then over to the west. … My grandmother was born in 1927, so she was telling me about Watonga herself, because she had a chance to experience it in her earlier years.
“It’s kind of just coming back home, and setting back down the roots that were once there,” Johnson said, expressing a desire to help make the town “something bigger and better.”
After Monday’s meeting was postponed, the city said it would be rescheduled for another time. The city hadn’t finalized a new meeting date as of press time.
Attendees who wish to speak for or against the zoning change will be able to sign up to do so at the hearing, and given up to five minutes to speak. Johnson and representatives of Exalted Connoisseurs will also present their vision to the committee.
The Planning and Zoning Committee was recently reformed after years of hiatus to tackle this specific issue, but also to handle any growth and development questions that arise in the future. The committee is comprised of Amy Adams, Travis Bradt, Gary Flynn and Dorene Fleming; Lewis Green was on the Monday agenda but has resigned his position, Bradt said.
Bradt and Fleming attended the meeting and were expecting a third member to arrive, a bare minimum three-member quorum, but he was ultimately unable to attend. City Attorney Jared Harrison told attendees the meeting couldn’t proceed and would be rescheduled.
The meeting was wellattended and held in the auditorium of the old City Hall at 117 N. Weigle to accommodate a crowd.