COMPETITION BRISK FOR CITY'S 2 MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Scottsdale's two medical-marijuana dispensaries, unlike pharmacies
that dot dozens of street corners, are likely to be tucked away on
Scottsdale Airpark back streets and in nondescript office buildings.

Eight applicants are seeking city use permits for dispensaries and
nearly a dozen other entities have filed pre-applications for pot
shops or cultivation centers. But no more than two of them will be
awarded state licenses this summer under rules adopted by the Arizona
Department of Health Services.

The Scottsdale Planning Commission on Wednesday voted 4-3 to postpone
a vote on a use-permit application for the Kush Clinic, 8729 E.
Manzanita Drive.

The advisory panel also agreed to postpone a decision on a permit for
the Arizona Natural Selections Patient Center, 8132 N. 87th Place, at
the request of the applicant.

Both are in a neighborhood northwest of Pima Road and Via de Ventura
less than a quarter-mile apart, which is prohibited under city zoning
rules.

Arizona voters approved a medical-marijuana ballot measure in November
that will be implemented this summer. By August, the state health
department will select no more than one dispensary for up to 126 areas
statewide.

Scottsdale essentially has two of those areas, roughly divided by
Doubletree Ranch Road. Two other areas are within the northern fringes
of Scottsdale but are unlikely to see any applicants, said attorney
Court Rich of the Rose Law Group, which represents a number of
dispensary clients statewide.

The Kush Clinic and Arizona Natural Selections are in the southern
Scottsdale area.

The other six applicants for use permits are in the northern area
clustered around the Scottsdale Airpark.

That includes the Virtue Center, 7301 E. Evans Road, which the
Planning Commission recommended for approval in a 3-2 vote last month.

Commission Chairman Michael D'Andrea and Commissioners Ed Grant, Jay
Petkunas and Michael Edwards on Wednesday voted in the majority to
delay voting on the Kush Clinic. They expressed concerns about the
proximity of Kush to Arizona Natural Selections and said they hoped
the state would soon clarify its "murky" rules about whether
dispensaries need a use permit before they get a state license.

Commissioners Erik Filsinger, Michael Schmitt and Matthew Cody opposed
postponing a recommendation on Kush's use-permit application.

Schmitt said the applicant met the city's criteria, no other
dispensary exists within a quarter-mile and Kush is willing to take
the risk that it will get a state license.

Assistant City Attorney Sherry Scott said the state process is
separate and the commission's duty is to consider whether Kush met the
city zoning requirements.

After voting to delay Kush's request, D'Andrea asked whether the
commission could reconsider its vote last month on a use permit for
the Virtue Center.

Scott said that would be unusual, but she would research the
commission's options.

Dispensary applicants in Scottsdale pay a $106 pre-application fee and
a $2,385 fee for a city use-permit application.

The state is charging a $5,000 application fee, and each applicant
must have access to $150,000 in startup money. Only $1,000 of the fee
is refundable if an applicant is not selected.

A license will be awarded in random drawing if there is more than one
qualified applicant in any one area.

Scottsdale has limited where the dispensaries and cultivation centers
can operate.

They have to be more than 500 feet from a school or residential area
and more than a quarter-mile apart.