I had heard from a reliable source this week that it was true, but honestly I just thought it was a fluke. The Argus has confirmed it with a story this morning. While I have not read their article I can speculate the reasons why.
Between the rules actually being in place with the state, there is the 700 lb gorilla in the room, the Supreme Court decision. Honestly, if I had the knowledge and the capital to invest in this, I would wait for those two things to be in place before moving forward. There is also a potential ballot question if they get enough signatures.
Factor in that there is very strict rules in Sioux Falls when it comes to dispensaries and my guess is finding a facility location is also very difficult.
If I were to invest in such a thing, I would do it in Lincoln County outside the city limits.
This is what happens folks when a legislative body jumps the gun on rules, and makes those rules so strict no one is interested. We all know that was the plan from the get go. So it seems South Dakota’s largest city can’t even progress on something this simple due to manufactured red tape. What a massive waste of time and taxdollars, but not a surprise from a cruise control mayor, and incompetent city attorney and a rubberstamp council.
If it ain’t for the benefit of the developers we will crush it. The sad part is the banksters, bondsters and developers will end up crushing the middle-class economy in Sioux Falls (if they haven’t already) due to their greed (taxpayer handouts) and unbridled growth (with no game plan on how to handle it).
I have been talking about our uncontrolled growth since I started this blog. Read this letter to the editor someone wrote in 2009 I quoted;
It is my opinion a moratorium on the city-limit footprint is needed. There are several, sizeable areas of undeveloped land within the current city limits This moratorium should last as long as these areas remain undeveloped, or 25 years, whichever is greater. As these areas fill in, property values will rise. Older, dilapidated neighborhoods could be razed, and urban renewal could flourish.
This statement was made 12 years ago and what has happened to our core neighborhoods (besides just downtown) since then? Nothing. The roads have gotten worse, affordable housing is virtually gone, Minnesota avenue has looked the same since the 1980’s and our core neighborhoods continue to crumble while we invest in play palaces and egg roll factories in corn fields. A reckoning is coming folks because of this willy nilly form of planning.