DECIDING WHERE TO PUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES STYMIES AF PLANNERS

The issue of where to put medical marijuana dispensaries proved so
divisive for the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee Monday
night that it produced three votes that failed on 7-7 ties.

"I have never seen a tie vote and I've been on this committee since
1993," said Doug Cole, the committee's chairman. "It's interesting to
show where the public is on this issue."

The issue now will go forward to the Phoenix Planning Commission
without any recommendation from Ahwatukee Foothills planners.

Such meetings are ongoing across the city as planners attempt to
develop guidelines to regulate where to put licensed non-profit
dispensaries, which could include grow space for up to 12 marijuana
plants in a secured facility, if Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical
Marijuana Initiative, passes on Nov. 2.

Ahwatukee's planning committee discussed several possible
restrictions. The initiative states that one dispensary may be built
per 10 pharmacies, with an estimated 120 dispensaries possible
throughout the state, according to planners.

The committee's first unsuccessful vote entailed simply endorsing the
existing text of the initiative without further comment.

"They've vetted this pretty well through the ballot initiative and I
don't think we should be adding any layers to it," committee member
Max Masel said.

That vote failed on a 7-7 tie.

The second vote involved requiring dispensaries to receive a special
permit from the city before being allowed to open. The process is
intended to give planners some say in each dispensary application,
according to proponents.

"Why would we not want to examine something? I don't see why we
wouldn't want to have a say as to where each of these is going to go,"
committee member Brian Symes said.

It, too, failed on a tie vote.

The final vote, to restrict dispensaries to commercially-zoned areas
only and to exclude them from residential areas, also failed on a tie
vote. That means the proposal moves forward to the Phoenix Planning
Commission without any input or endorsement from Ahwatukee.

"I think the planner can relate to the Planning Commission where we
are on this, and that is - divided," Cole said.