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Fifty-four businesses and individuals have applied for the eight medical marijuana dispensary licenses that will be issued in Yavapai County, but their identity is secret.
Statewide, 484 companies and people applied for 126 dispensary licenses by the May 25 deadline. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) plans to randomly pick the dispensaries that get licenses during an Aug. 7 drawing.
Under Proposition 203 that voters approved in 2010, the state can have one dispensary for every 10 pharmacies, or 126. Since that number coincides with the number of Community Health Analysis Areas (CHAAs) that ADHS had previously created, ADHS officials decided to allow one dispensary in each CHAA.
The number of applicants for each CHAA in Yavapai County, according to ADHS, included 13 for Yavapai County Northeast (Verde Valley), eight for Prescott, eight for Chino Valley/Ash Fork, seven for Yavapai County South/Bagdad, seven for Sedona (which sits in Yavapai and Coconino counties), six for Prescott Valley and five for Cordes Junction. No one applied for a dispensary in the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe CHAA. The CHAAs don't necessarily coincide with municipal or county boundaries.
Under Prop. 203, ADHS must keep all its information about individual dispensaries and their applications secret. That's the law even if a dispensary violates the law, ADHS spokesperson Laura Oxley said.
"I don't think people who voted on this (proposition) knew all that," Oxley said.
However, the dispensary applications must include letters from local counties and municipalities saying the dispensary sites meet local zoning requirements. Local governments are releasing those letters under the state's open records law.
The short letters include the proposed dispensary addresses and business or individual names.
The Yavapai County Development Services Department issued zoning compliance letters to people and businesses that were interested in opening medical marijuana dispensaries in the following areas outside municipal government boundaries: Mayer on Highway 69 and Main Street, Dewey-Humboldt on Santa Fe Loop, rural Prescott Valley along Copper Hill Drive, Black Canyon City on Old Black Canyon Highway, and Ash Fork on Park Avenue.
The City of Prescott issued zoning clearance letters for sites on Constellation Way, West and East Gurley Street, Commerce Center Circle, South 12th Place, EZ Street, 6th Street, East Merritt Street and Corsair.
Highway 89 was the popular road for dispensary sites in Chino Valley, which issued letters for seven sites on Highway 89 alongside letters for sites on West Road 2 South and West Butterfield.
In the Verde Valley, the City of Cottonwood issued nine zoning clearance letters, Camp Verde issued one and Clarkdale had no requests for any, according to The Daily Courier's sister newspaper the Verde Independent. Yavapai County issued one letter for Cornville and one for Rimrock. Sedona issued 20. Jerome officials didn't respond last week to requests for letters.
Prescott Valley had requests for zoning clearance letters, but didn't issue any because the applicants didn't meet special zoning requirements for dispensaries, PV Planner Ruth Mayday said.
The PV Town Council decided to make it tough for dispensaries to meet local zoning requirements by requiring a 500-foot setback from schools, homes, daycare facilities, parks, public buildings, churches, substance abuse centers, etc.
Only a few properties met all the setback requirements and the property owners weren't interested in dispensaries, Mayday said.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the City of Prescott didn't add any zoning requirements on top of the state's requirement that dispensaries be at least 500 feet from schools, Prescott Planning Manager George Worley said.
If the dispensary wants to grow marijuana on site, it has to be in an industrial zone, Worley said. Otherwise it's allowed in any commercial zone.
Prescott wanted to make it relatively easy for a dispensary to locate in the city so people can't grow it at home, Worley explained. Under Prop. 203, if a dispensary is located within 30 miles, homeowners can't grow their own.
Individuals have been able to get medical marijuana cards since April 2011, so it's been legal for them to grow their own pot for more than a year.
That will change when dispensaries open, although it's unclear whether government officials will go after growers immediately.
Some potential dispensary sites received zoning clearance letters under multiple names, meaning different businesses could be competing for the same sites. Or applicants could have formed more than one business, possibly with various partners, to increase their odds of getting a dispensary license during the random drawing for their CHAA.
Because of the Prop. 203 confidentiality requirements, local governments have no way of telling which businesses that received the zoning clearance letters actually applied for dispensary licenses.
The City of Prescott signed 17 zoning clearance letters, for example, but only eight of those groups actually applied for dispensary licenses, Worley noted.
The dispensaries will need certificates of occupancy or other local proof of zoning compliance before getting a state license to operate. So at least by the time they're ready to open, local governments will know if they're dealing with dispensaries.
"It is a very strange situation," Worley said.
Dispensaries can grow marijuana and make food infused with marijuana. The state won't issue separate licenses for growers and infusion facilities, Oxley said.
Dispensaries also can sell their marijuana to other dispensaries. The state allows that as an incentive for dispensaries to locate in rural areas and make dispensary marijuana available to rural cardholders, ADHS Director Will Humble explained in one of his blogs.
After three years of operation, dispensaries will be able to move.
And every year, ADHS will review how many dispensaries are allowed by law and issue new licenses. Priority will go to areas without dispensaries.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dcourier.com
Author: Joanna Dodder Nellans
Contact: Questions? Comments? Use the links below to contact us. - The Prescott Daily Courier - Prescott, Arizona
Website: Dozens seek to operate medical marijuana dispensaries across county - The Prescott Daily Courier - Prescott, Arizona
Statewide, 484 companies and people applied for 126 dispensary licenses by the May 25 deadline. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) plans to randomly pick the dispensaries that get licenses during an Aug. 7 drawing.
Under Proposition 203 that voters approved in 2010, the state can have one dispensary for every 10 pharmacies, or 126. Since that number coincides with the number of Community Health Analysis Areas (CHAAs) that ADHS had previously created, ADHS officials decided to allow one dispensary in each CHAA.
The number of applicants for each CHAA in Yavapai County, according to ADHS, included 13 for Yavapai County Northeast (Verde Valley), eight for Prescott, eight for Chino Valley/Ash Fork, seven for Yavapai County South/Bagdad, seven for Sedona (which sits in Yavapai and Coconino counties), six for Prescott Valley and five for Cordes Junction. No one applied for a dispensary in the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe CHAA. The CHAAs don't necessarily coincide with municipal or county boundaries.
Under Prop. 203, ADHS must keep all its information about individual dispensaries and their applications secret. That's the law even if a dispensary violates the law, ADHS spokesperson Laura Oxley said.
"I don't think people who voted on this (proposition) knew all that," Oxley said.
However, the dispensary applications must include letters from local counties and municipalities saying the dispensary sites meet local zoning requirements. Local governments are releasing those letters under the state's open records law.
The short letters include the proposed dispensary addresses and business or individual names.
The Yavapai County Development Services Department issued zoning compliance letters to people and businesses that were interested in opening medical marijuana dispensaries in the following areas outside municipal government boundaries: Mayer on Highway 69 and Main Street, Dewey-Humboldt on Santa Fe Loop, rural Prescott Valley along Copper Hill Drive, Black Canyon City on Old Black Canyon Highway, and Ash Fork on Park Avenue.
The City of Prescott issued zoning clearance letters for sites on Constellation Way, West and East Gurley Street, Commerce Center Circle, South 12th Place, EZ Street, 6th Street, East Merritt Street and Corsair.
Highway 89 was the popular road for dispensary sites in Chino Valley, which issued letters for seven sites on Highway 89 alongside letters for sites on West Road 2 South and West Butterfield.
In the Verde Valley, the City of Cottonwood issued nine zoning clearance letters, Camp Verde issued one and Clarkdale had no requests for any, according to The Daily Courier's sister newspaper the Verde Independent. Yavapai County issued one letter for Cornville and one for Rimrock. Sedona issued 20. Jerome officials didn't respond last week to requests for letters.
Prescott Valley had requests for zoning clearance letters, but didn't issue any because the applicants didn't meet special zoning requirements for dispensaries, PV Planner Ruth Mayday said.
The PV Town Council decided to make it tough for dispensaries to meet local zoning requirements by requiring a 500-foot setback from schools, homes, daycare facilities, parks, public buildings, churches, substance abuse centers, etc.
Only a few properties met all the setback requirements and the property owners weren't interested in dispensaries, Mayday said.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the City of Prescott didn't add any zoning requirements on top of the state's requirement that dispensaries be at least 500 feet from schools, Prescott Planning Manager George Worley said.
If the dispensary wants to grow marijuana on site, it has to be in an industrial zone, Worley said. Otherwise it's allowed in any commercial zone.
Prescott wanted to make it relatively easy for a dispensary to locate in the city so people can't grow it at home, Worley explained. Under Prop. 203, if a dispensary is located within 30 miles, homeowners can't grow their own.
Individuals have been able to get medical marijuana cards since April 2011, so it's been legal for them to grow their own pot for more than a year.
That will change when dispensaries open, although it's unclear whether government officials will go after growers immediately.
Some potential dispensary sites received zoning clearance letters under multiple names, meaning different businesses could be competing for the same sites. Or applicants could have formed more than one business, possibly with various partners, to increase their odds of getting a dispensary license during the random drawing for their CHAA.
Because of the Prop. 203 confidentiality requirements, local governments have no way of telling which businesses that received the zoning clearance letters actually applied for dispensary licenses.
The City of Prescott signed 17 zoning clearance letters, for example, but only eight of those groups actually applied for dispensary licenses, Worley noted.
The dispensaries will need certificates of occupancy or other local proof of zoning compliance before getting a state license to operate. So at least by the time they're ready to open, local governments will know if they're dealing with dispensaries.
"It is a very strange situation," Worley said.
Dispensaries can grow marijuana and make food infused with marijuana. The state won't issue separate licenses for growers and infusion facilities, Oxley said.
Dispensaries also can sell their marijuana to other dispensaries. The state allows that as an incentive for dispensaries to locate in rural areas and make dispensary marijuana available to rural cardholders, ADHS Director Will Humble explained in one of his blogs.
After three years of operation, dispensaries will be able to move.
And every year, ADHS will review how many dispensaries are allowed by law and issue new licenses. Priority will go to areas without dispensaries.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dcourier.com
Author: Joanna Dodder Nellans
Contact: Questions? Comments? Use the links below to contact us. - The Prescott Daily Courier - Prescott, Arizona
Website: Dozens seek to operate medical marijuana dispensaries across county - The Prescott Daily Courier - Prescott, Arizona
