SANTA CRUZ POT SHOPS MAY GET OK TO OPEN ON SUNDAYS

SANTA CRUZ - The two medical marijuana shops in town could be allowed
to stay open more than some standard pharmacies.

The city Planning Commission voted 4-3 on Thursday in favor of
amending the zoning ordinance related to medical marijuana
dispensaries to expand operating days to include Sunday, which would
permit the drug to be sold 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Commissioners Scott Daly, Rod Quartararo and Mari Tustin voted
against the proposed 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday operations.

"It just seems like a lot of time. I can't even go to the dump on
Sundays," Quartararo said. "CVS, for example, doesn't even make those
kind of hours." The national chain opens its Front Street pharmacy 10
a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday
through Friday.

Planning officials said they don't expect Sunday business at medical
marijuana dispensaries to impact residential uses because the
dispensaries must be located more than 50 feet from a home.

"Staff is also of the opinion that allowing dispensaries to operate
on Sundays will provide a public benefit to patients who may have no
other time available to visit the dispensary," planner Mike Ferry
said in a report to the commission.

Scott Wade of Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc., the Dubois Street
dispensary that opened in 2006, said the extra day and hours are
designed to benefit patients who can't access the shop at other times
because of work or other reasons.

Wade, who asked the City Council in April to expand operating hours,
said there is "high demand" for the dispensary to be open Sundays.

"If we can help even just one patient on Sunday, it's worth it for us
to stay open," he said. "It's all about being there for the patients."

The City Council must approve the planning commission's
recommendation before the amendment goes into effect.