Nogales International:  “With five applications pending from people who want to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Nogales, and the possibility that state voters will legalize recreational pot in November, the city is finally moving to establish rules for where and when marijuana-selling businesses could operate.  The Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved recommending that the Nogales City Council adopt regulations regarding marijuana dispensaries, more than five years after the voter-approved Arizona Medical Marijuana Program went into effect in April 2011.”

Phoenix New Times:  “The Phoenix City Council voted 8-0, with Sal DiCiccio not voting, to thwart patients and future, potential customers of adult-use marijuana stores with new restrictions that limit where medical-marijuana dispensaries could be located. Some on the council would have made the rules stricter, if they could have, the Arizona Republic‘s Brenna Goth reported.

Arizona Republic:  “New medical-marijuana facilities will lose some options of where they can locate in Phoenix, under stricter rules approved by the City Council on Wednesday.  Dispensaries, as well as cultivation and infusion businesses, will have to find sites farther away from residential areas and places of worship than previously required by the city.  Phoenix also added day-care centers, homeless shelters and youth community centers to the list of places a facility must be at least a quarter-mile from.  The City Council voted 8-0 to pass the new regulations with an emergency clause, making them effective immediately.”

Tucson Weekly:  “It’s going to get a lot easier for medical marijuana dispensaries in Tucson to expand thanks to three zoning amendments the City Council passed Tuesday evening.  Here’s the good news:  Outdoor cultivation of medical weed is now allowed in industrial zones in accordance with state law. The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act says that outdoor growing is good to go only if the area is surrounded by 10-foot walls made of metal, concrete or stone that prevent outsiders from seeing the marijuana plants.”

arizona.newszap.com:  “A majority of the Mesa City Council voted to approve rezoning property to light industrial for a planned medical-marijuana dispensary at 6350 E. Main St., but legal property-owner protests in the area required at least a 6-1 vote, the council was told May 5.  The proposed business would have been in the Mesa Central CHAA – or Community Health Analysis Areas for Arizona’s medical marijuana program – with boundaries of Power Road, Country Club Drive, University Drive and Broadway Road, Gordon Sheffield, city of Mesa zoning/civil hearing administrator, told the planning board Feb. 18.  The city requires that medical-marijuana dispensaries be in industrial-zoned areas.  There is no industrial-zoned land in the CHAA,”

Phoenix New Times:  “The fight for a medical-marijuana dispensary on unincorporated Maricopa County land won a key victory on Wednesday with the Board of Supervisors lifting its ban on the shops. But the five Supervisors — one Democrat and four Republicans — and the county attorney continue to see the case as their ticket to overturning the state’s voter-approved medical-pot law.”

Arizona Republic:  “The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a zoning ordinance allowing medical-marijuana dispensaries in Maricopa County’s unincorporated areas, winding down more than two years of resistance in the face of an adverse Superior Court order.  Maricopa County previously had a zoning classification that blocked medical-marijuana dispensaries within the county’s jurisdiction. The county stood firm on that policy despite voter approval of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in 2010, which put the state’s medical-marijuana program into effect in many Valley cities.”

Arizona Republic:  “The Scottsdale City Council has turned down a request to open a medical-marijuana bakery in the Scottsdale Airpark.  Pure Bliss Premium Medibles sought a conditional-use permit to operate the medical-marijuana kitchen at a site near Redfield and Hayden roads, which previously was approved for two dispensaries that never opened.”

Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune:  “Town staff is proposing changes to the medical marijuana ordinance in response to some of the recurring issues and concerns with past applications to operate a dispensary in Florence.”

Arizona Republic:  “Zoning rules limiting the locations of Mesa medical-marijuana dispensaries could be eased after a potential dispensary operator’s struggle to find an appropriate site sparked a push among city officials to re-examine city guidelines.

Arizona Republic:  “A [prospective] medical marijuana dispensary  [Advanced Pain Solutions ] is seeking Glendale’s OK to locate closer to a school and a residential zone than allowed under city ordinance. . . . Under the city’s ordinance, dispensaries must be 500 feet from a residential zone and 1,320 feet or quarter of a mile from a school. Toris said the applicant is seeking variances, allowing it to be 425 feet from a residential zone and 1,263 feet from a school, North Pointe Preparatory, 10215 N. 43rd Ave.”

Chino Valley Review:  “While currently no applications for medical marijuana dispensaries or cultivation centers are pending for Chino Valley, the town Planning and Zoning Commission is attempting to stay ahead of the curve by presenting to the town council recommendations for local regulation of these type of businesses.”

Arizona Republic:  “A yearlong delay in state authorization of medical-marijuana dispensaries has winnowed the field of applicants in Scottsdale to just four businesses.  Each of the four applicants is seeking a city use permit to operate a marijuana dispensary in the Scottsdale Airpark. Under state rules, only one will be awarded a dispensary license. . . . applicants are: The Giving Tree Wellness Center, 7655 E. Evans Road. MMRX, 15455 N. Greenway Road, Suite C-22. True Health Care LLC, 14666 N. 74th St.  Valley Wellness Center, 7825 E. Redfield Road.”

East Valley Tribune:  “Tempe had more interest than any East Valley city last year when municipalities began sifting through applications for dispensary locations.  Mesa has also seen renewed interest, while Gilbert’s had a single inquiry. Chandler hasn’t had any new interest, and a city official said it’s unlikely a dispensary will find a place to open in that community despite the state’s medical marijuana program going forward.  The would-be dispensary owners flooded cities last year with applications, totaling more than 80 in the East Valley. Tempe was overwhelmed with about 50 applications, while Mesa fielded 35. Chandler and Gilbert had only a few applications per city. . . . Department of Health Services rules administrator Tom Salow said he doesn’t expect the agency will issue all of the 126 licenses this year that are available. Tribal nations will likely block the 18 dispensaries that the geographical system would set aside for them.”

Arizona Republic:  “A medical-marijuana dispensary request in northeast Phoenix has been postponed a second time due to redtape in state government. . . . The applicant, Linda Sonder of American Healthcare Alternatives, needed a permit plus zoning variances because the site is closer to residences and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve than the city ordinance allows.”

by Mike Wakefield,  Architect

If you will be submitting an application to operate a medical marijuana dispensary, infusion, or cultivation center in the state of Arizona, then you will need to include a zoning approval letter (aka comfort letter) from the local city, town, or county for each location in your application to the AZ DHS.

The purpose of this zoning approval letter is to confirm that the location of the facility from which you plan to operate is within an area designated as legal per local zoning ordinance code and is not encroaching within a certain distance of specific areas including schools, churches, residences, and other local pending medical marijuana dispensary, infusion, or cultivation centers.

In order to acquire a zoning approval letter, you must submit a zoning application package – which includes:

1. Completed Application Form (forms are available online for each city, town, county);

2. Plot Map Showing The Location of the Building, Suite, or Portion thereof where the facility is located;

3. Legal Description of the Building, Suite, or Portion thereof where the facility is located;

4. Accurate Distance Table that identifies the approximate distances of schools, churches, residences, and other local pending medical marijuana dispensary, infusion, or cultivation centers from your proposed location.

If you should have any questions regarding this process, contact Mike Wakefield at 623-533-3281 or visit his website.

Arizona Republic:  “A Phoenix zoning administrator has approved a medical marijuana dispensary for Ahwatukee Foothills, despite objections from officials at two nearby schools and an area pediatrician.  On Thursday, Foothills resident Matt Waltz, who owns a Tempe construction company, obtained a zoning variance for a dispensary in a shopping center at the southeastern corner of 46th Street and Chandler Boulevard.”

Here are some stories from the Arizona Republic about recent developments with use permits for medical marijuana dispensaries.

• Paradise Valley – “Medical-marijuana dispensary application put on hold in PV“

• Phoenix – “Medical-marijuana dispensary permit OK’d“

• Ahwatukee – “Ahwatukee medical-marijuana dispensary application rejected“

Arizona Republic:  “Most cities in Arizona have already approved zoning regulations in preparation for June 1, when the Department of Health Services will start accepting applications for dispensaries, said Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Mos communities have taken a similar route as Kingman by allowing dispensaries in industrial areas, Strobeck said, with few willing to let them operate in main business areas.”