Businesses Chosen in Lottery
Five Hopeful Businesses Chosen in Dispensary License Lottery
From Trevor Mitchell at the Argus Leader on 11/17/2021
Peter Dikun was the first person in Sioux Falls to turn in a medical marijuana dispensary license, but as more and more applications poured in, he had told his wife that he didn't see a one in 79 shot working out in favor of his business, The Flower Shop LLC. On Wednesday morning, he said, she'd told him she had a good feeling about it. But he was still surprised when the ball marked 01 was the first one selected in the city's license lottery that morning. With a few more turns of a bingo cage, the city of Sioux Falls selected the rest of businesses slated to receive one of the city's five medical marijuana dispensary licenses.
City Hall's commission room was packed before the 10 a.m. lottery began, with representatives from the 21 different businesses that turned in a combined 79 applications. After a thorough explanation of the procedure from City Attorney Stacy Kooistra and the unboxing of the applications by City Clerk Tom Greco, the lottery began. Which businesses are first in line to run Sioux Falls' dispensaries? Licensing Specialist Jamie Palmer deposited 79 balls into a bingo cage in front of the crowd, which she rotated several times before drawing the ball marked 01, to the amusement of the audience. Next up was 69, representing one of the 26 applications that Emmett Reistroffer had carried into City Hall on Monday in boxes for Genesis Farms LLC.
Reistroffer said he was excited for the business opportunity, but more happy the city was taking another step toward providing medical cannabis to patients.
Ball 44 was chosen next, one of the two applications submitted by PJJ Holdings LLC. The reactions to being selected had been fairly subdued thus far, at least until ball 3, representing the sole application from East River Farms LLC. Cameron Young leapt from his seat, yelling with excitement and eventually running into the lobby of City Hall to celebrate with his business partners. Air horn noises partially drowned out the announcement that ball 31 had been drawn, giving the final prospective spot to one of eight licenses submitted by DejaVu SD LLC.
The remaining 74 applications were all selected in order, as a license isn't guaranteed to the five chosen in the lottery. Palmer still must open the sealed applications and determine whether they align with the city's requirements, a process she expects to begin sometime this week. Should any of the five fail to meet those guidelines, the application chosen sixth would be offered the license, and so on.
For the time being, though, the lucky five are happy, with Reistroffer joking he's considering a trip to Grand Falls Casino later today. And Dikun's already onto the process of getting a conditional use permit to ensure his location will be allowed. "Now the hard work begins," he said.