By a vote of 6-1 at its meeting last week, the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission recommended to County Supervisor Valerie Brown that a use permit be granted for the proposed medical marijuana dispensary at 19445 Riverside Drive.
Creekside Medicinal Organics presented its application, filed with the county in April, to the commission before a large crowd at the Sonoma fire station. Applicant Dona Frank and her attorney, Lisa Guygax, assured everyone that they would be “good neighbors” to the surrounding residential areas, citing as proof the success of their Santa Rosa operation.
Many neighbors thought otherwise, as negative comments predominated during nearly an hour of public comment on the proposal. Potential problems of crime and increased traffic were most often mentioned. Commission chair Bob Felder had to request repeatedly that comments be limited only to the zoning issue at hand.
A pot club is allowed in the “limited commercial” zone with a use permit. Under Sonoma County Code Section
26-88-126(h)(1), “a medical cannabis dispensary shall not be established on any parcel containing a dwelling unit used as a residence, nor within one hundred feet (100?) of a residential zoning district.” Guygax argued that the on-site caretaker’s residence is now used as an office and that the distance from the site of the dispensary itself, located deep in the former Nicholas Turkey facility and out of view from the street, easily exceeds 100 feet to the nearest residences.
Guygax suggested that the four businesses presently operating from other parts of the facility are doing so “without any permits.” These are Flag Emporium, Bon Marche Thrift Shop, Focus 4 Promotional Products, and Illusion Lighting Design. One of the commission members was prompted to ask that the licensing of these businesses be reviewed. And Frank said that one of the neighbors had offered her $20,000 to withdraw the application.
The commission’s clear recommendation (Clarence Jenkins was the lone vote against) would seem to ready the pot club’s application for action by the Board of Supervisors at a meeting soon. That body meets twice a month, on Tuesdays, in Santa Rosa.
