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Proposed A St. pot grow faces new scrutiny A pot grow and shop is proposed at the former Plexis building at the corner of A and Oak streets in Ashland. [Mail Tribune / Andy Atkinson] Monday Dec 11, 2017 at 5:24 PM Dec 11, 2017 at 5:26 PM By Tran Nguyen for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — A proposed 6,000-square-foot marijuana grow and store in the former Plexis building on A Street is getting a more thorough review after the city received 20 pages of public comments raising concerns about air quality, odor, traffic, safety and the “negative effect on livability, tourism and housing values." People can comment on the project during an Ashland Planning Commission meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, at the Ashland Civic Center, 1175 E. Main St. The application was filed under the name of Plexis Healthcare Systems’ CEO Jorge Yant. City staff had said in November the application raised no concerns and was going to be processed in-house, but comments by local residents bumped the city's review to a “Type II” level. A commission staff report noted several concerns for the commission to discuss, including increased traffic, a potential hazard for the city’s wastewater treatment plant and the distance requirement from a residential area. The staff report said the opening of the site will double vehicle trips compared to the target use of a general office from 4 to 6 p.m. The application hasn’t successfully demonstrated — as required — that the increasing cars won’t have a negative impact on “the performance of the nearby intersections, pedestrian travel, pedestrian crossings and safety, and bicycle safety," the report said. The Ashland Public Works Department also has stated concerns that the potential chemical content of wastewater generated by the indoor grow will end up in the city’s sewer system. “Often industrial uses are required to pre-treat wastewater before dispensing it to the public system. In addition, the rate of discharge of this type of wastewater can be an issue and may need to controlled and metered,” the staff report said. Per a city ordinance, a marijuana retailer and production site has to be at least 200 feet from a residential zone. The application, using a methodology that has been used by other marijuana-related applications, suggests that the retail space is 230 feet from the residential zone and the production space is about 300 feet away. But according to the staff report, the commission “may have the ability to interpret and apply the separation requirement using a different approach.” An initial story published in the Ashland Daily Tidings on Nov. 16 — a day before the public comment deadline — reported that there were three comments submitted. According to the staff report, the department has since received at least two dozen more, all in opposition. The application states the production area will be 4,180 square feet, in what was formerly an open-air pavilion, and the retail shop will be 1,850 square feet. The building served as healthcare software company Plexis’ headquarters for roughly a decade until November 2016, when the company moved to Medford. The building, still owned by Plexis, has been left empty since.  — Reach Ashland Daily Tidings reporter Tran Nguyen at 541-776-4485 or [email protected]. Follow her on twitter @nguyenntrann.