Last month, the county Planning Commission voted 3-2 to deny a minor-use permit for the dispensary proposed by Robert Brody of Los Angeles and Tom Meredith of Long Beach.
Brody filed an appeal of the split decision earlier this month, which is expected to be heard by the supervisors in August or September, according to the Planning and Building Department.
County ordinance allows establishment of dispensaries in unincorporated areas such as Nipomo but specifies the facilities must be located 1,000 feet away from public schools, playgrounds, parks, youth or recreation centers and libraries.
The proposed dispensary on Lindon Lane is more than 1,000 feet from Nipomo High School, but a private gymnastics studio — Paradise Gymnastics Studio — is located within 94 feet of the building where Brody wants to open the facility.
The commission denied the permit, in part, because of the dispensary’s proximity to the gymnastics facility, which the majority of the commission believed fell within the parameters of a public youth-serving center.
Brody disagrees.
“The intent of establishing location standards was to provide separation for where children congregate ... public schools, libraries, parks, playgrounds, recreation or youth center, not a business center that caters to children,” Brody wrote. “This broadbrush approach was not the intent.”
County project planner Bill Robeson said the ordinance’s distance requirement is intended to protect children and that planning staff was being conservative when it applied the requirement to the private gymnastics studio.
Planning staff had recommended denying the permit because of the short distance between the studio and dispensary.
The dispensary also was met with overwhelming opposition from the community, whose members believe such a facility would become a magnet for criminal activity.
The appeal asserts that there is “no substantiated proof” that opening and operating a dispensary in the community would be detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the general public, including children.
“The medical marijuana dispensary across the street in a different industrial park will have no impact on the gymnastics studio,” Brody wrote. “I am sure county planners did their due diligence when assigning this location as acceptable.”
Source: Santa Maria Times
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