EXPANDED MEDICAL POT ZONES PROPOSED

To illustrate the number of dispensaries distributed throughout the
state, city of Flagstaff staff have drawn an odd parallel: The number
of Burger King franchises in Arizona.

There are 135 homes of the Whopper scattered throughout the state
while there will be up 125 dispensaries set to open later this year.

Arizona voters last November authorized marijuana for medical
uses.

Two meetings tonight in Flagstaff will set at least temporary local
zoning laws determining where growing and selling facilities can be
located in the city and in unincorporated Coconino County.

Elected officials in each agency have recently asked staff to come up
with requirements that don't make it too cumbersome to open or utilize
a marijuana dispensary.

3 DISPENSARIES LOCALLY

David Grandon keeps notes and reports in a neatly organized thick
black binder to help him keep track of the latest in Prop. 203 news.

The former local art gallery owner will be watching tonight as the
Flagstaff City Council and the Coconino County Board of Supervisors
each consider zoning rules for medical marijuana dispensaries.

It's estimated that three dispensaries will open in the greater
Flagstaff area, two inside the city limits and another just outside
Flagstaff.

The recommended underlying zoning for the dispensaries inside the city
limits would allow their operation in largely the same places as the
fast food giant might be found: strip malls and other commercially
zoned areas as well as industrial areas in town.

Coconino County is expected to have five (including Flagstaff), in a
state system that has divided the dispensaries geographically.

Areas like Bellemont and Doney Park could become county sites, for
example.

GROWN WHERE IT'S SOLD?

Grandon, who is part of a group of local professionals that wants to
open a dispensary, will be keeping a close eye on the rules related to
the physical size of a retail location.

Flagstaff and county officials are recommending a cap of 2,500 square
feet for dispensaries, something Grandon is concerned about.

"My vision of a dispensary is not simply a place to vend and a retail
format for medical marijuana," Grandon said.

He wants to establish a larger location that has room for a
chiropractor, a massage therapist and other therapeutic services
co-located on the same site.

Both the city and county are recommending large, off-site cultivation
locations, despite a recommendation from the Flagstaff Police
Department for the collocation of the two types of operations.

It is something Grandon favors as well, at least in the
beginning.

"I like to have everything under one roof," Grandon
said.

He said a natural progression eventually would allow dispensaries to
establish secondary, off-site locations once the business can no
longer produce enough on-site to keep up with customer demand.

MARIJUANA IN FOOD?

Both agencies allow on-site cultivation at the dispensaries, but the
2,500-square-foot limits the size the growing operation.

Coconino County is looking at how this will work for food. The law
allows adding marijuana to food for patients, and the county would
allow dispensaries to send the marijuana out for baking or other
cooking, then require that the food be returned to the dispensaries
for sale.

If you go:

The City of Flagstaff and Coconino County Board of Supervisors each
plan to set zoning policies for marijuana dispensaries and cultivation
facilities.

- - The Coconino County Board of Supervisors meets at 6 p.m. at 219 E.
Cherry Avenue.

- - The City of Flagstaff meets at 5:30 p.m. at 211 W. Aspen Avenue.