MOUNT DORA, Fla. – The Mount Dora city council passed a measure Tuesday evening calling for the state legislature to further regulate medical marijuana cultivation sites.
The city had received several complaints from homeowners inside The Lakes at Mount Dora about the smell of marijuana and loud noises from a nearby Curaleaf .
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“The smell is, especially when you are driving down the road, it’s very, very, very strong. It smells like a dead skunk,” resident Rand Hoyt said.
Homeowners near Bridgeport Bay Circle in Mount Dora said the noises from the company’s equipment has become a nuisance.
“The fans are industrial fans. They go 24/7. Loud humming in the back of our houses all the time. As far as the odor goes, it depends on which way the wind’s blowing, but there’s an obnoxious odor that kind of hovers around the area, so people go out, and they immediately recognize what it is,” resident John Himmelrich said.
“This used to be an orchid facility where they grew and sold orchids, and then they sold to this marijuana facility. When you make changes like that, we were here first,” resident Linden Hillman said.
Mayor Crissy Stile said she’s visited the neighborhood to witness the problem firsthand.
“I mean, it didn’t take but three minutes, I’m thinking to myself: ‘If I’m sitting out here enjoying a glass of wine or coffee, in three minutes, I’m already extremely annoyed at this non-stop humming.’ And it changes and varies in pitch,” Stiles said. “They hold complete control over this facility, which is really is causing as you heard with residents so much grief with noise and odor, so it was really just a message to send to (state legislators that) we need need you guys to use your power and start regulating these facilities.”
News 6 contacted Curaleaf, the company who operates the facility, but have not heard back by the time of publishing.
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