PHOENIX WILL HEAR REQUEST FOR MEDICAL-POT FACILITY

A new request for a medical-marijuana dispensary in northeast Phoenix
is the city's first to have a permit hearing since legal issues
surrounding state law apparently have been resolved.

The hearing is at 9 a.m. Thursday at Phoenix City Hall, 200 W.
Washington St.

The site needs at least two variances from the city law governing
location of dispensaries -- variances that hearing officers have been
reluctant to grant.

The dispensary applicant, Linda Sonder of American Healthcare
Alternatives, has identified a vacant building on the southeastern
corner of Cactus and Cave Creek roads as her site. The building
formerly housed a convenience store and a payday-loan operation.

But the location is closer than permitted to a residential area and
the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.

City law requires dispensaries to be 250 feet from homes and a quarter
mile from parks.

The city also requires it be a mile from another dispensary, and
another dispensary was previously approved a quarter-mile to the north.

Medical-marijuana dispensary operators have had a tough time finding
suitable locations throughout northeast Phoenix, with many facing
distancing hurdles. Only one of the five was approved for a city
permit, at 12620 N. Cave Creek Road, about a quarter mile north of the
intersection with Cactus.

Far enough away from the preserve, homes or schools, the site at 12620
N. Cave Creek Road faced only the hurdle of being too close to other
sites.

But the other locations all were turned down, withdrawn or failed to
meet deadlines.