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MANSFIELD — The first recreational cannabis dispensary in the city may open as soon as May, according to officials with Backroad Wellness.
The company, based in southeast Ohio, purchased a building at 1099 W. Fourth St. in November for $599,000, according to property records at the Richland County Auditor’s website.
Backroad Wellness Vice President Brian Hennessey told Richland Source on Monday afternoon the company has obtained a provisional license from the State of Ohio and is in the process of remodeling the building for its purposes.
“We are hoping to open in May,” he said. “The biggest hold-up has been paving … we want to get the parking lot repaved. The construction company is working inside the building today.”
The company, headquartered in Zanesville, currently operates dispensaries in Cambridge, Lima and New Boston, a site near Portsmouth.
Ashland Gentry, the company’s director of compliance and continuous improvement, said the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Cannabis Control granted Backroad Wellness its provisional license.
“That means we have looked at your site, looked at your plans and it checks all the boxes,” Gentry said. “The next step is to get it built out, get it staffed and contact the state when you are ready for inspection for the license to operate.”
Mansfield City Council in August opened the door to as many as three recreational cannabis dispensaries in the city, providing those businesses meet state requirements and also comply with existing zoning codes for business districts.
That vote came after lawmakers rejected a proposed six-month moratorium suggested by then-new Mayor Jodie Perry.
That decision came after Ohio voters approved State Issue 2 in November 2023, opening the door for legalized recreational cannabis sales in the state. However, many communities have approved legislation prohibiting such businesses.
Hennessey came to Madison Township in February of 2024, but failed to get approval from township trustees to open a 4,000 square-foot marijuana dispensary in Madison Township.
“I love that area up there,” Hennessey said. “We were one of the groups that spoke to folks in Madison Township. We’re from Zanesville and that area is like Zanesville … just bigger.
“We had been looking all over the state for prime locations and that one (1099 W. 4th St.) happened to pop up as I was searching. I was the first person to call on it, I think. We got lucky. It’s a great location.”
The site of the dispensary is two blocks west of Trimble Road, offering easy access to U.S. 30.
Backroad Wellness plans to open Mansfield’s first recreational cannabis dispensary at 1099 W. 4th St. (Google maps)
The company was founded in 2022 by Zanesville entrepreneurs Pat and Deb Hennessey, who said they saw a need for a new approach to medical marijuana dispensaries after seeing the benefits of cannabis in their own family.
Born and raised in Ohio, the couple didn’t want family members traveling hours to obtain their medication or be forced to buy it from large corporate cannabis companies with owners disconnected from the communities they serve, according to the company website.
The company obtained licenses for three medical cannabis dispensaries in May 2022, locations they have now converted to recreational sites.
Gentry said the Mansfield location will offer a wide variety of cannabis offerings, including flower, vaporizers, concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals.
“We are basically trying to cover all the available categories that the state now allows,” he said.
Ohio is still working on rules that may allow the sale of pre-rolled joints.
“Those are offered in a lot of states now, but not yet in Ohio,” Gentry said.
Gentry said the company dispensaries are dedicated to security — both in terms of keeping minors out of the store and also in security in and around its retail outlets.
“We take pride in our ability to stay compliant with the state. These dispensaries are for adults consenting to use these products. It’s not something we’re just trying to get into anyone’s hands from a sales standpoint,” Gentry said.
He said Backroad Wellness contracts with a third-party security company.
“They will have personnel on site during all hours of operation. And they are armed,” Gentry said.
He said the store in Cambridge provided a tour of its operations to the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office.
“We have 73 cameras at that location. The sheriff said it had more surveillance than the county jail,” Gentry said.
He said in the three stores currently open there has been no instance of theft or issues with customers not providing proper identification to enter the outlets.
Hennessey said the city’s Codes & Permitting Department has been a pleasure with which to work.
“The have been really responsive and easy to work with,” he said.
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