PING FIGHTS MEDICAL-POT DISPENSARY NEAR PHOENIX LOCATION

Golf-Equipment Maker: Neighborhood Declining

Golf-equipment manufacturer Ping is threatening to leave its north
Phoenix home of 45 years if the neighborhood continues to decline, its
attorney says.

Phoenix will do all it can to prevent that from happening, according
to a top city official.

The dispute between Ping and its neighbors came to light last week at
the first use-permit hearings for medical-marijuana locations citywide.

While most of the applications sailed through without opposition,
Stephen Earl, Ping's legal representative, objected strenuously to an
applicant for a site at 1944 W. North Lane.

Ping is a block north of the North Lane site, on property north of
Peoria Avenue and west of 19th Avenue, where it has been accumulating
property since 1966. Earl told a Phoenix hearing officer that the
company is considering investing $170 million to renovate its
headquarters, but may not do so if the neighborhood decline continues.
Ping has not announced its renovation plans publicly.

Earl said Ping brings in celebrities and professional golfers from all
over the world, including college teams from across the country, for
tours and club fittings. Because Ping customizes its clubs to buyers,
the company is likely to see younger golfers.

Bringing them into a bad neighborhood reflects poorly on the company,
he said. The neighborhood includes a striptease club, Centerfolds
Cabaret; a lingerie store, Fascinations; and a hemp-products store is
on the horizon.

Earl said the neighborhood has become a "hotbed of deleterious uses,"
including the possible medical-marijuana outlet.

The use permit was granted despite Ping's opposition. After the
hearing, Earl told The Republic that moving is "an option that has to
be on the table."

The attorney for the medical-marijuana applicants said they do not
want to get into a fight with Ping.

"My clients just want an opportunity to run a business," said Lindsay
Schube of the Valley law firm Beus Gilbert, which represented
applicants Michelle Gilmore and Joseph Butler.

Deputy City Manager David Krietor, who oversees Phoenix's
economic-development issues, said the city will do all it can to keep
Ping happy. The company is one of Phoenix's key employers, he said.
The number of employees could not be immediately verified, but an
October 2007 Republic article reported the Phoenix headquarters'
workforce at 800.

"This is an iconic product designed and made in Phoenix," Krietor
said. "Shame on us if we don't do all we can to help them."

Ping generates wealth and could locate anywhere, unlike most other
businesses in the area, he said.

Krietor is assembling a team of city staff members to look
"strategically" at the neighborhood, he added, and will work with Ping
"to improve how the community presents itself to the outside world."

Krietor could not say how such an approach might impact Centerfolds or
the Hemp Mart, which plans a grand opening in April.

But city planning officials said there is little they can do to
prevent such businesses from opening in areas where they meet all the
zoning requirements.

Krietor said there has been "no real planning" in the area, wedged
between Sunnyslope to the east and Metrocenter to the west. The
neighborhood has been declining for years.

"We need to think about the impact our decisions make on a business
like this," Krietor said.

Arizona voters in November approved medical marijuana, and dozens of
dispensaries will be licensed by the state. To receive permits,
applicants must meet a variety of city rules, including required
distances from schools, churches, parks and homes. After obtaining
their city permits, applicants must go to the Arizona Department of
Health Services for licensing, a process that opens on May 1.