Fast Track Secures Option for Marijuana Grow Site

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – One of the five companies seeking a state license to operate a medical marijuana cultivation center in the city has optioned 11 acres of property at the Salt Springs Industrial Park for its proposed growing site.

The Youngstown Board of Control today approved an option agreement with Fast Track Group for the property, which is near the site of the shuttered Exterran Energy Solutions Inc.

Fast Track Group, which is led by local McDonald’s franchisee Herb Washington and his son Terrell, will pay $10,000 for the option, which will run through Sept. 30, said David Bozanich, city finance director.

Fast Track will submit the site as part of its application to the state of Ohio for a Tier I, or large growing site, license. Applications for the Tier I licenses are due by June 30, and the state is expected to announce awardees by Sept. 30.

The group “will spend millions in that area” should it be awarded a license, Bozanich said.

Should there be a delay at the state level, Fast Track can extend its option for an additional $5,000, Bozanich said.

The parcel Fast Track is optioning was part of a site originally set aside for a planned expansion by Exal Corp. After that project didn’t move forward, the land was divided and 15 acres was used by Exterran to build a plant to manufacture compressor stations and other equipment for companies exploring the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.

The Exterran plant, which opened in spring 2013, was shuttered about three years later during the downturn in the oil and gas industry.

At a meeting with City Council in May, Herb Washington said his group would not only grow medical marijuana at the site but also herbs such as basil.

Pictured: Aerial view of Salt Springs Road Industrial Park posted by MS Consultants Inc.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.