BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) -- The Benton County planning board decided on Wednesday (Sept. 6) to table a vote on a proposal for a medical marijuana cultivation facility near Gentry.
If it is approved by the state, the property owner plans to develop the property into a medical marijuana cultivation facility.
Multiple residents who live near the proposed site on Bloomfield North Road spoke out against this project.
Their concerns include possible contamination from runoff from the facility, and the increased traffic on the dirt road. They said one of their bigger concerns was security.
The owners of the property said it will be manned 24/7, but residents say it takes a long time for the sheriff's department to get to the area.
"It's not a good place," Barb Warren said. "If they choose to do this we wish they would go someplace where there is just a lot of open land where they're not going to be imposing on anybody."
Some members of the board said they tabled this item for a few different reasons. They want to look into the security of the area, and want to hear from someone with the Benton County Sheriff's Office. They also want to look into a possible child rehabilitation center that someone brought up during the meeting.
That person said there is a nonprofit equine therapy center for kids located right next to where the cultivation facility would go.
5NEWS did reach out to the owners of the property after a decision was made, but they did not want to speak with us.
The board hopes to further discuss the proposed project at their next meeting on Sept. 20.