The Madison Township Zoning Commission has approved a site development plan for Buckeye Relief to construct a marijuana cultivation facility in the community. The commission unanimously ratified that plan — with conditions — at the conclusion of a public hearing on Feb. 23. That decision gives B uckeye Relief the consent it was seeking to construct its new business at 2388 Green Road. “We’re just excited to move forward,” said Buckeye Relief official Matthew Kispert, after the hearing. He serves as the company’s vice president of cultivation. Buckeye Relief also operates a facility in Eastlake which cultivates marijuana and processes it into edible, topical and vaping products. The company’s Madison Township business will focus strictly on growing marijuana. In July 2025, Buckeye Relief received a conditional use permit on the Green Road property that land is zoned Agricultural A-1. The company’s next required step was to submit a site development plan to the township Zoning Commission and secure approval of that document prior to constructing the building. While the commission initial gathered on Feb. 9 to consider the request, the panel decided to adjourn the hearing after about one hour because it wanted the company to submit additional information. Specifically, the commission desired more specifics about the building’s exterior lighting and landscaping plans for the front of the structure facing Green Road. When the hearing resumed on Feb. 23, commission members learned that the exterior lights were positioned in a way that wouldn’t disturb owners of neighboring properties. “They’re all down-facing lights, so there’s very little residual lighting past anywhere near the property line, let alone the fence in the front,” said William Vondra, a principal and professional engineer with Land Design Consultants of Mentor. LDC is assisting Buckeye Relief with the design of its new facility. Matthew Kispert, left, vice president of cultivation for Buckeye Relief, addresses the Madison Township Zoning Commision during a Feb. 23 public hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the commission approved, with conditions, the site development plan for a a marijuana cultivation facility that Buckeye Relief intends to build in the township. Kispert answered questions from the commission along with William Vondra (standing at lectern), who is a principal and professional engineer for Land Design Consultants of Mentor. LDC is assisting Buckeye Relief with the design of its new facility. (Bill DeBus - The News-Herald) Vondra, on Feb. 23, also addressed the topic of landscaping on the side of the building adjacent to Green Road. He said two landscaping beds will be planted on soil mounds between the property’s fence and road right of way. The beds will be filled with fragrant plants such as honesuckles and lilacs, in response to concerns at the Feb. 9 hearing about potential odors emanating from marijuana in the greenhouse, Vondra added. After Vondra and Kispert finished answering questions on Feb. 23, township Zoning Inspector Max Ungers suggested adding conditions to final approval of the document. One of those stipulations included a request that Buckeye Relief return to the commission if and when it decides to expand its operations on the Green Road property. “I just wanted to be clear right now, that if you want to do anything more than what we’re talking about tonight, it would be something to reach out to us on,” Ungers said. John Witt, chairman of the Madison Township Zoning Commission, addresses representatives of Buckeye Relief during a Feb. 23 public hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the commission approved, with conditions, a site development plan for a marijuana cultivation facility that Buckeye Relief intends to construct in Madison Township. (Bill DeBus - The News-Herald) The commission then approved the company’s site development plan, with conditions. The cultivation facility will consist of a greenhouse that’s 52,592 square feet, and a headhouse, or working center, which totals 24,533 square feet. The business will raise about 3,100 marijuana plants during each nine-week growing cycle. Kispert estimated that at least 25 full-time employees initially would be hired, and said Buckeye Relief is hoping that it will begin operations on July 1. Kispert said the overall estimated cost of the construction project is $9 million. A couple of Green Road residents who live near the proposed marijuana cultivation facility did express concerns about the business coming to their neighborhood. At the Feb. 9 portion of the public hearing, Ungers read a letter from Mario and Pierrette Toulouse, who stated that they reside across the street from the future business. The couple said they had “concerns about potential noise generated by greenhouse ventilation fans, as well as odors associated with the harvesting of hemp plants multiple times throughout the year.” Steve Kaleal, who spoke at the hearing, said he also lives across the street from where Buckeye Relief will operate the facility. Kaleal said that when the marijuana plants at the facility bud, the smell “is going to be abundant.” “I have asthma, I take an inhaler …  Unfortunately, this is going to be a burden on me and my lifestyle,” Kaleal said. Kispert replied that he’s also had asthma, since his childhood. “And I’ve been working inside of the room with these plants for 10 years,” he said, contrasting that with the distance of Kaleal’s home from the business. Kispert also said that at Buckeye Relief’s Eastlake facility, visitors typically notice the odor of marijuana when they’re in the parking lot of the business, but not beyond that area. As for noise, Kispert said he obtained pertinent information from manufacturers of equipment that will be used at the Madison Township facility. “The highest decibel levels that the equipment will put out is about 67 decibels, and that’s when you’re within 50 feet of the equipment,” he said. “So the further out you go,  the lower that gets, and that’s at peak (operation).” He added that 67 decibels, on established decibel charts, is the equivalent of a loud conversation. ...read more read less