SAN LEANDRO — A cannabis testing laboratory has gotten approval to open within a cluster of buildings on Teagarden Street.

The business, operated by Shasta Laboratory, will have five full-time employees and will test cannabis for arsenic, mercury and other harmful contaminants, a process that the state Bureau of Cannabis Control requires before dispensaries can sell their products.

The city’s Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments unanimously approved a conditional use permit for Shasta on May 2. The action clears the way for the business to apply for a state permit to open.

“These types of laboratories provide a necessary safety service,” Andrew Mogensen, San Leandro’s planning manager, told the commission. “They take samples from manufacturing facilities, dispensaries, and they test them for safety. They provide quality control. They do this as an independent third-party.”

The lab will have no more than 100 grams of cannabis on-site at any time, and the material will be tested and discarded within 24 hours, according to Shasta owner Daesoeb Cho.

Samples will not have any commercial value after testing, plus they will no longer be suitable for consumption.

“We are a laboratory,” Cho said. “We are chemistry geeks. We don’t know how to utilize cannabis. But we know what’s going on inside the material.”

Shasta will occupy a 5,330-square-foot spot within the four-building office condo complex at 2974 Teagarden St. The property, overseen by the Teagarden Business Center Owners Association, can accommodate 23 tenants.

A target date for opening was not available.

San Leandro has approved three cannabis dispensaries, the maximum allowed in the city, and so far has received just one application for a manufacturing business, despite the city allowing up to five to operate, Mogensen said.

A lack of available commercial space is the reason for the small number, he said. The city has no limit on the number of cannabis testing labs that can open. Shasta if the first to apply.

Marc Crawford, who owns a unit in the complex, urged commissioners to reject the application, saying the owners association’s rules require prior written approval of a majority of owners before the city can issue a use permit.

That did not happen, he said.

Crawford also said the lab has not undergone an architectural review and that more details were needed about how the business will operate, including its disposal of any hazardous waste.

Suleiman Hijazi, another property owner, supported the project, saying that he and others in the complex were OK with the laboratory as long as it did not violate any laws.

“I believe he’s going to be successful,” Hijazi said about Cho. “And I believe he’s going to bring revenue to San Leandro.”

Any dispute among property owners at the complex must be resolved internally, Mogensen said.

“The city cannot prevent an application from moving forward simply because a property owner association or a homeowners association objects,” he said.

Shasta plans to have 24-hour video surveillance and an alarm system, with cannabis samples locked behind steel doors.

“As far as concerns about break-ins and stuff, the folks that are breaking into dispensaries are smart enough to realize that a lab or manufacturing business has a very low value,” said Commissioner Michael Santos, who made the motion to approve Shasta. “I really don’t perceive that as an issue here.”