RESIDENT, CHURCH KEEP SUNSET DISTRICT POT FIGHT ALIVE

Sunset dispensary waiting to open due to legal challenges

SAN FRANCISCO - A Sunset district resident and a local church are
trying to stop a medical cannabis dispensary from opening in their
neighborhood.

In May, the Bay Area Compassion Health Center received a permit from
the Planning Department to open a pot club in a former chiropractor's
office at 2139 Taraval St. The permit was approved despite opposition
from numerous neighborhood residents, the local police captain and
Supervisor Carmen Chu, who represents the area.

Kenneth Chow, a local resident and father who runs a tutoring business
on the same block as the proposed dispensary, and the Chinese Gospel
Church, located next door to the closed office, both filed appeals
opposing the dispensary last week.

Parents in the largely residential neighborhood say the dispensary
poses a threat to children, he said.

"That hurts my business," he said, adding that the dispensary poses a
criminal threat on top of other concerns. "They cannot have cannabis
around a school area. I don't want to take that chance."

Dispensaries must be located at least 1,000 feet away from schools and
parks, according to city law. While the nearest school, Abraham
Lincoln High, is nine blocks away - more than the required distance -
Chow said there are youth groups, his tutoring service and other
"facilities that primarily serve children" nearby.

Would-be dispensary operator Greg Schoep, a general contractor and
owner of a Balboa Street hardware store, said staff from both the
Planning Commission and Planning Department ruled that it is
acceptable for a dispensary to operate in the area.

"We did our due diligence, and we were approved [by a 5-1 commission
vote] on our merits," said Schoep, a medical cannabis patient who has
used a wheelchair since he was shot during a home invasion in 1982. He
said the club's security would help calm safety fears.

"Right now, it's the patients' rights that are being trampled on,"
Schoep said. "It's about the medicine, and safe access to medicine in
the Sunset."

Medical use of marijuana has been legal in California since state
voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996. There are 24 dispensaries in
San Francisco, but only one on The City's west side and none in the
Sunset district, according to the Department of Public Health.

Both sides will argue their case at the Board of Permit Appeals on
Nov. 17. Four of the five board members must vote against the
dispensary to halt its opening, according to Vincent Pacheco, legal
assistant at the Board of Permit Appeals.

Following the board's decision, either party can request a rehearing
or appeal the decision to the San Francisco Superior Court, Pacheco
said.