BASD filing complaint over cannabis dispensary’s proximity to Pullman Park
BUTLER TWP — Butler Area School District is filing a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Health over a medical cannabis dispensary located right by Pullman Park, the home field of several local high school baseball teams.
Superintendent Brian White said Monday, June 1, he was previously made aware of a potential violation of regulations after several parents approached him in the past month regarding the store’s proximity to the ballpark, which is now managed by the school district. The City of Butler managed the facility until last summer.
“Pullman Park has been doing well from a usage perspective. I did get parent complaints about a dispensary and traffic related to it,” White said. “One of the parents did point some things out to me about the regulations. It turns out dispensaries, under state law, are supposed to be 1,000 feet away from the school. It’s not 1,000 feet away from Pullman Park.”
Sunnyside Medical Cannabis Dispensary is a large chain store that sells various medical marijuana products. It has locations across Pennsylvania, as well as in Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois and Florida, according to its website. It has a Butler store located at 201 Pillow St., just across a small parking lot from Pullman Park’s home plate entrance.
Butler’s varsity and junior varsity baseball teams have used Pullman Park since 2008. Several other school districts play home baseball games at Pullman.
White said he is also not sure if the dispensary is 1,000 feet away from Broad Street Elementary School, located several blocks away.
White said he got an acknowledgment email from the Department of Health and has not received any further update.
