Medical marijuana: S.F. must rethink rules On San Francisco

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In 2005, San Francisco adopted its first regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries. The city has been patting itself on the back ever since.

That can stop now.

The rules, which were pushed through by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, were groundbreaking at the time, but they've left a large loophole that could turn the burgeoning South of Market neighborhood into the largest, most concentrated, cluster of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

That's got city officials - including Mirkarimi - rethinking dispensary regulations. And they should. It's time to get specific with pot clubs, which currently don't even require a background check for operators.

"The regulations have worked quite well the last five years," Mirkarimi said. But "amendments may be necessary to offset any disproportionate impacts."

Changing the zoning would be just fine with optometrist Jack Sinow, who moved his office to the corner of Sixth and Market streets to help upgrade the neighborhood. But he's outraged that a pot club plans to open around the corner at 952 Mission St. He said he's already lost clients because of the sketchy characters who hang around his front door.

"That's the last thing we need here," Sinow said. "The whiff of marijuana comes in our door continuously."

But he's got bigger problems because the 2005 ordinance makes SoMa the perfect home for a pot club boom.

The ordinance had two major components to allow a medical cannabis dispensary - the area had to be zoned for some kind of commercial retail use, and a dispensary could not be within 1,000 feet of a school for students younger than 18.

"With all the schools popping up," said Leslie Young, who was the design architect for two pot dispensaries in the city, "it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a place to put them."

But that's not true in SoMa. The area is only now filling in with condos and homes, and there are not many kids - or schools. It is also zoned for commercial use, making it one of few large areas in the city that fits the criteria.

"There is certainly the potential for lots of dispensaries there," said city planner Rick Crawford.

Also, there is no regulation against clustering pot clubs, so theoretically you could put five or six in one block.

"It is not that we do not support medical marijuana," said Jane Kim, the neighborhood's supervisor. "But if we are talking about a large swath in the neighborhood, we want to prevent clustering."

That's got members of the mayor's office pulling out their hair because Mayor Ed Lee is working to revitalize Mid-Market.

Amy Cohen, the director of neighborhood business development, says they already have laid the groundwork for a "conditional use district," which would force an applicant to show why the new business is necessary and useful to the neighborhood.

"We are already looking at rezoning to minimize the mitigating impact of some businesses - like adult entertainment and liquor stores," she said. "And we have run by the idea of adding cannabis clubs as well."

That sounds like a great idea. If Mirkarimi wants to earn more kudos, he could work on a citywide ordinance that addresses some of these problems - a ban on clustering, background checks for owners, and a requirement to show why another dispensary - there are currently 24 licensed in the city - is needed.

No one is trying to get rid of pot clubs. But if the merchants and residents who live near 952 Mission St. had their choice, they'd probably pick architect Michael Stanton's proposal over a marijuana dispensary.

Stanton just got approval in December to build a 15-story hotel at 942 Mission St.

"My client is ready to make an investment in the tens of millions of dollars," Stanton said. "And the next thing you know there's a pot club next door."

Enough pot clubs. Now we need hotels.