Planning Commission: Adult-Use Cannabis Dispensary, School Setback Debate, and Credit Union Drive-Thru

STOW, Ohio – 2026 Planning Commission Dates Approved

Commissioners quickly signed off on the 2026 planning commission calendar, which keeps meetings at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at city hall. One member noted they would be absent from a January meeting, but the board moved forward unanimously with the schedule.

Adult-Use Cannabis Dispensary at 4149 Steels Pointe Denied

Site plan and zoning context

Planning staff outlined PC 2025-031, a request tied to 4149 Steels Pointe Drive, on the northwest corner of Steels Pointe and Steels Corners. The 1.02‑acre parcel is zoned C‑5 Highway Service and backs up to single-family residential zoning to the west.

Key elements of the proposal included:

• A new 2,400-square-foot building
• 27 parking spaces, including two ADA-compliant spaces
• Two-way access from Steels Pointe
• Building setbacks that met code on all sides
• A landscape plan exceeding city standards, with 9.3% interior lot landscaping (versus 5% required), 12 new trees, and more than 100 shrubs, including screening shrubs along the front parking row

Staff noted the landscaping plan had already been approved by the city arborist.

Inside, the layout called for a check-in lobby where customers would present identification and receive a badge before entering the secure sales floor. Product storage would be in a locked vault area at the back of the building.

Why variances were needed

Under Stow’s current supplemental regulations for cannabis facilities, staff highlighted several key rules:

• No facility within one mile of another cannabis facility – this site complies.
• A required 1,000-foot setback from parcel line to parcel line from:
  • Schools
  • Places of worship
  • Public libraries
  • Public Playgrounds and parks
  • Opioid treatment facilities
• A required 1,000-foot setback from any residential zoning district

The project complied with the one-mile separation and the bans on outdoor storage, outdoor sales, and drive-thru facilities.

However, it failed on two distance requirements:

1. Distance to a daycare classified as a school

   • The site is approximately 955 feet from a daycare on Bridgewater Parkway.
   • Daycares count as schools under state definitions, so a variance was needed from the 1,000‑foot local standard.

2. Distance to residential zoning

   • The parcel directly abuts an R‑1 residential district to the west, resulting effectively in a 0‑foot setback from residential zoning where 1,000 feet is required.
   • Although the adjacent R‑1 parcel is vacant, the nearest actual dwelling is roughly 600 feet away.

A radius map prepared for the application showed the proximity of the residential district and the daycare, as well as the constraints the city’s current buffer rules create across Stow.

Staff overview of current and proposed code

Planning staff emphasized that:

• Under the current zoning code, only a very small number of locations in the city technically meet the 1,000‑foot buffer from residential districts plus the 1,000‑foot buffer from schools, parks, and other protected uses. Most of these compliant areas are in the northwest industrial section of Stow.
• The city is in the midst of a zoning code update, including changes to its cannabis regulations, with legislation headed to city council for a third reading in early December.

Staff noted that under the proposed code revisions (which were not yet in effect as of the meeting):

• Adult-use dispensaries would be limited to just one in the city, subject to a one-mile separation from any other dispensary.
• The 1,000‑foot setback from residential districts would be eliminated.
• The required 1,000‑foot setback from schools, places of worship, libraries, parks, and similar uses would be reduced to 500 feet, aligning more closely with state-level minimums.

If those changes were adopted, the Steels Pointe site would comply with the revised rules. But commissioners stressed they were required to apply the current code to the pending application.

Applicant’s case: Market need and regulatory alignment

Representatives for the applicant described their company as a multistate cannabis operator with dozens of dispensaries in several states, including multiple locations already open in Ohio. They said:

• Stow and the broader area are underserved for both adult-use customers and medical patients, who currently travel to surrounding cities such as Kent, Akron, or Cuyahoga Falls.
• The company has been operating in Ohio for several years, with several stores open and another planned to open just before Christmas, and views Stow as its final allowed Ohio location under state limits.
• Large shopping centers are often off-limits due to bank policies or lease restrictions, so finding a standalone, for-sale property like this one was critical.

On the variance requests, the applicant argued:

• The state’s setback from schools and similar facilities is 500 feet, and state regulators measure from the building premises, not from property line to property line. By that measure, they said the building itself would exceed 1,000 feet from the daycare property line.
• On the residential side, they acknowledged there is no way to avoid abutting residential zoning under the current Stow ordinance, noting that nearly every commercially viable site in the city is within 1,000 feet of residential zoning. They contended the adjacent R‑1 parcel here is lightly used and difficult to develop because of environmental constraints, and the nearest actual dwelling is hundreds of feet away.
• State law does not require any specific separation from residential districts, and the city’s pending zoning update would eliminate that local requirement altogether.

The applicant also raised timing concerns:

• They do not yet own the property, but have it under contract for a limited period. A lengthy delay into February could cause them to lose the site.
• Summit County’s state licensing region has only one remaining dispensary slot available under state rules. If another license holder secured a compliant site elsewhere in the county and moved first with the state, Stow’s opportunity to host a dispensary could disappear, even if local code changes later reduced setbacks.

Nearby property owner opposes variances

A nearby resident who co-owns roughly 50 acres west and north of the Steels Pointe parcel told commissioners that:

• The so‑called “vacant” land is actually long‑held family property and homesteads, with multiple houses on the larger tract.
• The nearest school bus stop serving local children is only a few hundred feet from the proposed dispensary site, near an existing fast-food restaurant at the corner.
• Apartments in the Bridgewater Park complex are also within roughly 500 feet of the parcel, further underscoring the residential presence around the intersection.

He urged the commission to deny the requested variances, arguing:

• Reducing the residential buffer from 1,000 feet to zero is not a minor adjustment, but essentially a removal of the protection council adopted earlier this year.
• Trimming the school setback from 1,000 feet to 955 feet would contradict the clear buffer distance council had chosen; if 955 feet were acceptable, he argued, that distance would have been written into the ordinance.
• Granting such large variances on the very first major test of the city’s cannabis ordinance would set a precedent that those safeguards are “flexible or optional” instead of firm.

He said the core issue was not whether adult-use cannabis should be allowed in Stow, but whether the city would stand by the protections it enacted for residential areas and schools.

Additional comments on state law and local standards

Another speaker, familiar with the city’s pending revisions, noted that the proposal to reduce the school buffer to 500 feet and eliminate the residential buffer was designed to mirror state law, which requires:

• 500 feet from schools and certain sensitive uses, and
• No minimum setback from residential zoning districts.

She emphasized that the state of Ohio has already determined that those distances are sufficient for this type of facility, and local officials can choose to be more restrictive—but do not have to be.

A representative involved in preparing the mapping analysis for the application also told commissioners that the existing 1,000‑foot residential buffer plus other local rules make it extremely difficult to find compliant parcels in Stow. Only a few slivers of commercial property appear to work on paper, and many of those sites are already fully developed or constrained by existing uses.

Planning staff clarified that while options are limited, there are at least some technically compliant locations under current code, mostly tied to large commercial centers and industrial areas.

Commissioners’ concerns and vote

In their discussion, commissioners returned repeatedly to one point: they are bound by the current ordinance, not the proposed revisions that could take effect next year.

Some members plainly stated they liked the building design and appreciated the thoroughness of the proposal, but questioned:

• Whether it was appropriate to erase a 1,000‑foot residential buffer via variance.
• Whether this board had already been granting too many variances overall, effectively rewriting the zoning code case by case.
• The wisdom of moving ahead on a project so dependent on a code change that had not yet cleared council.

When a motion was made to approve PC 2025‑031 as presented, the vote went to roll call. A majority of commissioners voted no, citing the need to uphold the current setbacks on both the school/daycare and residential sides.

The motion failed, and the adult-use cannabis dispensary at 4149 Steels Pointe Drive was denied at the planning commission level.

4420 Kent Road Credit Union and Drive-Thru Approved With Conditions

Reuse of former fast-food site

The commission next reviewed PC 2025‑033, a proposal for 4420 Kent Road. The 1.19‑acre C‑4 General Business property previously housed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, which closed years ago, and more recently a mattress retailer that has also shut down.

The new plan calls for:

• Reusing the existing 3,800+ square-foot building
• Converting it to a credit union branch
• Providing 25 parking spaces
• Reopening and updating the existing drive-thru lane

The applicant plans to remove a row of parking directly behind the building and replace it with landscaping, convert some spaces to angled parking, and add a fully screened masonry dumpster enclosure at the rear. Much of the current landscaping on the site will remain, with additional plantings added; the overall landscape plan has been approved by the city arborist.

Renderings presented to the commission showed exterior updates to the building as it transitions from restaurant and retail use to financial services.

Drive-thru variances and new bypass requirement

Because drive-thru facilities are a conditional use in the C‑4 district, the commission needed to evaluate the site under recently adopted supplemental regulations. Those rules require:

• A 10‑foot bypass lane that would allow vehicles to pass around a blocked drive-thru lane for emergency access or congestion relief.

In this case:

• The property’s existing drive-thru lane historically served the former fast-food use but has not been active in recent years.
• The new plan adds a small drive-thru canopy on the east side of the building that extends about seven feet from the wall, reducing the side-yard building setback to about 13 feet, 3 inches, where 20 feet is required.
• There is no practical way to fit a full 10‑foot bypass lane alongside the existing drive-thru lane within the current lot lines.

The applicant explained that the canopy is designed to protect equipment and customers using the drive-up interactive teller machine (ITM) and after-hours ATM, especially during poor weather.

Commission crafts a compromise

During questions, commissioners pressed on the bypass requirement, calling it a key safety standard adopted to ensure emergency access around drive-thru queues.

Staff confirmed there is enough room to stripe a 9‑foot-wide bypass lane alongside the drive-thru, even if a full 10 feet is not feasible. While narrower than the standard, commissioners noted that many jurisdictions allow 9‑foot-wide parking spaces and that a vehicle could safely pass at low speeds.

The applicant said they were willing to re-stripe the pavement to provide a 9‑foot bypass.

Commissioners then crafted a compromise:

• Approve the conditional use for the drive-thru and the side-yard setback variance for the canopy;
• Grant a variance from the 10‑foot bypass requirement;
• Condition the approval on the applicant revising the site plan to include a striped 9‑foot bypass lane around the drive-thru, citing the relevant bypass section of the zoning code.

With that condition, the commission voted unanimously to approve PC 2025‑033. The reuse of 4420 Kent Road as a credit union with an updated drive-thru and added landscaping will move forward, pending any remaining council or administrative steps.

Meeting Wrap-Up

After completing its agenda, the Stow planning commission adjourned, with members and staff exchanging holiday wishes ahead of Thanksgiving.

The meeting highlighted the tension between:

• A strict reading of the current cannabis zoning ordinance, which led to denial of the Steels Pointe dispensary request despite signs of future code changes; and
• A flexible, site-specific approach to older commercial properties, where the commission was willing to adjust new drive-thru regulations as long as safety goals could still be met through creative striping and conditions.