First RX cannabis shop to open

Three years after South Dakota voters passed Initiated Measure 26 to legalize medical cannabis in the state, the City of Custer will have its first medical cannabis dispensary.
At the March 20 meeting of the Custer City Council the council unanimously approved Broken Boot Dispensary’s application for the city’s lone cannabis dispensary permit, with the business to be located at 145 Mt. Rushmore Rd.
Applicants are Curt Lout and Valerie Sword of Hot Springs. Lout was present at the meeting, and said he recently purchased land in Custer County, and that many people in Custer might known him as the local “sign guy,” saying he has created “75 percent” of the signs in Custer.
The approval of the application was with one contingency, as one required background check is still pending. Otherwise, all of the required paperwork is in order, and the location of the future shop meets the requirements for such a business.
Later in the meeting during the committee report portion of the meeting Mayor Bob Brown and alderwoman Nina Nielsen told of a recent tour they took of a dispensary in Sturgis, and both came away impressed with the professionalism of the business, especially the security portion.
Nielsen said after touring the facility she is far less concerned about a dispensary being opening in Custer.
“The security is probably better than Fort Knox,” she said.
Brown said there is no product visible in the entry of the building, and that only a certain amount of people are let inside at one time. All of the product is behind glass, he said, and there are cameras everywhere. He also said the doors are such that if something goes wrong they can be securely locked instantly.
The council also heard from retired attorney Charles Patterson, who made an impassioned plea to the council to pass a resolution he presented to the council that would say in writing the U.S. Forest Service that the city is against the planned F3 Gold exploratory gold mining in the Custer area.
“It’s become a matter of some personal interest to me,” Patterson said, saying some of the planned drilling would take place near his well and wells that serve the city.
“If you’re uncomfortable with (passing a resolution) and you don’t think it’s your fight and don’t want to be involved, I would encourage you to rethink your position, change your mind and at your next meeting, without any question, reservation or hesitation sign a resolution objecting to exploratory mining in the Black Hills of South Dakota, specifically in Custer, specifically adjacent to your water wells and within the French Creek drainage,” he said.
Patterson said he would try to change the mind of those who say it is a Forest Service issue and the 1872 mining law must be respected in reference to this planned project.
“I’m going to change your mind tonight, and if I fail I’ll do it tomorrow or the next day or the next day,” he said. “This is incredibly important for you folks to get your arms around.”
Patterson said a drilling project in Pennington County was put on hold for two years, which he believes in part was due to the Rapid City Council speaking out against the project.
“We have to stand up for ourselves. We have to do things and move forward in a way to make sure we don’t have exploratory drilling in the Black Hills in Custer County,” he said.
Patterson made mention of the Feb. 16 meeting hosted by the Forest Service regarding the proposed project, specifically F3’s refusal to participate in the meeting.
“What have we learned about F3? What we learned is when a meeting got a little hot they went out the back door and we didn’t hear one word from them,” he said.
Patterson suggested a three-year study on how the drilling would or would not affect water quality, and also said he felt F3 “was up to no good,” and that he believed the company would flip the mining claims once gold was discovered in any core samples.
“They have an opportunity to have a windfall over smoke and mirrors,” he said.
Patterson also said he believed it could affect tourism, which he called the lifeblood of the community.
“Everybody in this room benefits from tourism. Everyone in this room enjoys having friends and family enjoy the Black Hills,” he said. “Whether it’s a camel with his nose under the tent or a bull in a China closet, F3 gold is not a good fit.”
The council told Patterson they would review the proposed resolution and discuss it at a future meeting.
In other news from the March 20 meeting, the council:
• Heard from Andrea Ronning, who was representing Robert Gipson Produce, which seeks an exception to the city’s transient merchant ordinance in the hope of selling fresh produce in the city all summer. His stand would be set up on private property at the corner of Hwys. 385 and 16.
Ronning said Gipson would eventually like to move the business to Custer, and is using this summer as a test run for the demand. Gipson runs 23 such stands in California.
When told by Nielsen Gipson would need to apply for a conditional use permit (CUP) for the ordinance, Ronning said Gipson told her it was his understanding he would not need to have a CUP.
City finance officer Laurie Woodward told Ronning after city attorney Terri Williams reviewed the issue it was determined a CUP was the best course for Gipson to take.
Ronning asked why if the stand were to be set up on private property why a CUP would be required at all.
“If he wants to bring someone in to lease the corner of his property, why does he even have to? Isn’t that allowed as a commercial use of (the landowner’s) property?” she asked. “I think it’s a valid question.”
“Ordinances apply to everybody,” Williams said. “Whether it’s private property or not they still have to meet the requirement for the ordinances for managing businesses.”
Alderman Todd Pechota pointed to a portion of the ordinance that he believed spelled out the requirements clearly. In part, that section states “any firm, person or corporation which intends to operate a temporary business or temporary use/structure within the corporate limits of the city and is located on property that is either zoned central business district, highway commercial district or industrial district shall be required to purchase a transient merchant’s license for each structure, stand, tent, vehicle, booth, location or place which is used by such merchant of the sale or distribution of goods or any other commercial activity and which occupies any public or private property or right-of-way.”
• Heard once again from a member of Preserve French Creek. During the public comment portion of the meeting Katherine Nerud asked council members if they read the DGR Engineering report on the project, which alderwoman Peg Ryan responded to by saying all of the council had read it.
“Good,” Nerud said. “Have you found our socioeconomic impact for the residents of Lower French Creek? There answer is no. I would like to see it. I asked you last time for it. It’s not there.”
When no one on the council responded, Nerud asked for it to be noted the council “abstained from answering or producing any type of evidence to show the residents of Lower French Creek have not had this socioeconomic statement done for us.”