DISPENSING EUREKA

Small interest generated in medical marijuana selection committee

About two dozen people want to open one of the few medical marijuana
facilities allowed in Eureka, but such interest has not been generated
for a seat on the selection committee.

The Eureka City Council adopted the medical marijuana ordinance in
August and it went into effect Sept. 3. Modeled after Arcata's
marijuana ordinance, the land-use approach to regulating indoor grows
and cooperatives has been adjusted to suit public requests and concerns.

With the ordinance as law, qualified patients have guidelines to
follow for residential cultivation that limits the size of the crop,
electrical usage and regulates other factors.

That same ordinance also regulates the number of medical cannabis
dispensaries and processing facilities within the city limits. It
allows for four cultivation and processing facilities, and each of
those can have two dispensaries. Additionally, two dispensaries that
do not have cultivation facilities in town can open up in Eureka.

To determine who can open one of the handful of commercial facilities
allowed in Eureka, a three-person selection committee will develop the
request for qualifications to establish a pool of eligible business
plans, said Community Development Director Sidnie Olson.

"The RFQ I created was more of a draft," Olson said.

About 24 people have asked to be notified when the RFQ is developed so
they can submit their plan.

However, only one person met the Friday deadline to apply for the seat
on the selection committee, which will choose which business plan
suits the city and the RFQ best, said City Clerk Pam Powell. Only one
seat on the committee is open to help choose candidates with
Councilmen Jeff Leonard and Larry Glass.

Powell said the councilmen could decide to extend the application
deadline if they wanted a bigger pool of people to choose from.

"They had some discussion about requesting a person not in the
cannabis industry, but that (is able to) read a business plan," Powell
said.

With only one candidate, Glass said he was unsure what the next step
would be, but that they should be moving forward with the committee
soon.

Once the committee is selected and they have potential businesses
submit the RFQs, the committee can pick which business plan is best
without going back before the city council, as the council may have to
hear appeals in the permit process, Olson said.

For information on the ordinance or for a request for qualifications,
contact the Community Development Department at 441-4265 or 531 K St.,
Eureka.