APRIL FOOLS: Could marijuana businesses light up downtown Sarasota?

As the city attempts to sort out its regulations on marijuana dispensaries, a group of investors sees the new industry as a high-value investment — and they plan to sow their seeds on Main Street.

This week, Long Beach, Calif.-based entrepreneur Bradley Nowell filed a preliminary application for a new business in the former Herald-Tribune building at 1741 Main St. Nowell’s application proposes a new use for one of downtown’s most iconic buildings: a marijuana grow site and dispensary.

The plans are an early challenge for Sarasota in the wake of the approval of Amendment 2 in November. Although the law is designed to provide relief for individuals suffering from illnesses, residents and city officials have expressed concern that a rapid spike in marijuana-related businesses could spark a bad reputation for the downtown core.

“What we’re talking about is the distribution of powerful, mood-altering chemicals on Main Street,” downtown condominium resident Nark Dugnutt said. “Imagining something like that is, quite frankly, frightening to even consider as a hypothetical.”

But Nowell sees the marijuana industry as an opportunity to blaze a new trail on the lethargic east end of downtown. He was originally attracted to the Main Street property for its glass windows — the perfect site for a urban grow operation, he said. But there were other factors that sealed his decision to move forward with the proposal.

“We’ve done our research, and the data showed that Sarasota was the best city in the state to begin this new enterprise,” Nowell said in the preapplication documents. “The demand alone from residents stressed out by nearby construction and searching for a way to decompress — it’s a potential gold mine.”

And property owners seem to be embracing the proposal, with other similarly minded businesspeople prepared to roll out their own plans if Nowell is successful. Leaked documents show a plan to overhaul the former World of Beer site at 1888 Main St., although the new concept isn’t a radical departure from the former tenant.

Miami-based firm Dank Developments Inc. hopes to transform the property into “World of Weed,” a craft dispensary that advertises its offerings of 420 different strains of marijuana.

“Quite frankly, it’s immature to paint all marijuana sellers and users as the lazy weed-loving stereotypes you see in pop culture,” said Ross Taman, CEO of Dank Developments.

He straightened up behind his desk, staring contemplatively at his “Bob Marley: Legend” poster and adjusting his long, blond dreadlocks before he continued.

“This is a serious business,” Taman said. “Anyone who would try to make light of that should do some real self-reflection.”

Hopefully you made it to the end of the article, so we can say, Happy April Fools' Day! This story is not true.