A marijuana dispensary is coming to Day Street in Moreno Valley, and the majority property owner and fellow tenants aren’t happy about it.

Earlier this week, the Moreno Valley City Council denied an appeal by Canyon Springs Investment Trust, which sought the reversal of a June 27 Planning Commission decision awarding a conditional use permit to a commercial cannabis dispensary in the Canyon Springs shopping center.

Canyon Springs Investment Trust, which holds a 75% stake in the shopping center, argued the dispensary — which purchased the building it intends to use, along with a 5% stake in the complex — is in violation of a legal document it signed when purchasing the property.

The document reads, in part, the “tenant shall, at tenant’s sole cost and expense, comply with all of the requirements of all municipal, state and federal authorities.” Violating the law, the document continues, “shall constitute an incurable default under this lease.”

At a meeting Tuesday, Aug. 20, council members were unimpressed by the argument, saying the legal dispute is a matter for the civil courts.

“I don’t believe we’re the body to hear this matter,” said Mayor Pro Tem Victoria Baca. “It’s a squabble between the business association and the property owner.”

“This particular property is not appropriate for a number of reasons,” attorney Daniel Reed, who represents Canyon Springs Investment Trust, told the council Tuesday night. “My client has the responsibility to take care of the entire complex.”

Other tenants in the complex include churches, a mosque, an indoor trampoline park and a dance studio.

The council, however, was not swayed by Reed’s argument or the complaints of several tenants who attended the meeting and said the dispensary would attract the same problematic customers as when marijuana was illegally sold in the complex. According to Reed and other tenants, a former tenant illegally operated a “marijuana exchange” as a sideline to their main business before being shut down by the city a year ago.

Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez said the owners and tenants of the Canyon Springs shopping center had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaints and it was far too late to begin making objections.

“The best time to bring up these issues was during the land use hearings” last winter, Gutierrez said. “I don’t think we should be making a decision here, but if we are, I think we should deny the appeal.”

Baca agreed.

“That train has left the station,” she said.

The council denied the appeal by a 4-1 vote, with Councilman David Marquez voting against the motion.

Rommel Dunbar, the owner of United Boxing Academy in the complex, said on Wednesday that he was shocked by the council’s decision.

“They had no consideration for the businesses and community,” he said.

His gym, which also teaches Brazilian jujitsu and mixed martial-arts fighting, is meant to be an oasis from the problems his young students face outside the gym, he said.

“We struggle really hard in the schools and on the streets,” Dunbar said. “We don’t allow cussing or (gang) colors.”

As part of his boxers’ training, he has his students run through the complex, but now intends to change their route so they avoid the area. He said he expects the dispensary’s customers to be using marijuana after purchasing it.

“These kids were here first and they deserve to be able to get away from (drugs),” Dunbar said.

He said he had been unaware the complex was going to be zoned for marijuana sales during the city’s land use hearings.

“If they were considering this complex, they should have come out here and contacted businesses,” Dunbar said.

Prior to the March 2018 council vote to approve the commercial sale of cannabis, the city held multiple hearings on the issue.

Harold Acord, president of the Moreno Valley Educators Association, said he was similarly surprised that the complex was zoned for marijuana sales.

“I see lots of students going to the barbershop, the trampoline place, going to the dance studio two doors down,” Acord said. “The City Council did not protect the children of Moreno Valley.”

Michael Poura, the owner of the as-yet-unnamed dispensary and a businessman involved in a number of Las Vegas based-companies, said he thinks the rest of the tenants will come around in time.

“I understand they’ve had a bad experience before with an illegal dispensary,” Poura said. But, he said, the new dispensary will be adding security cameras and guards who will shoo off anyone who thinks they can use marijuana in the shopping center.

“This shopping center is really run down. It needs some new blood. It needs more clients and customers,” he said. “I believe we’re actually going to be a benefit to the center. We have no interest in underage customers, we have no interest in people hanging around. We’re not going to have a party in the parking lot.”

Poura said he hopes to open the dispensary in the next three to six months, depending on how fast city officials process the building plans.

“We 100% understand the other side’s opinion on the matter but we believe that after we open up, they’ll be happy that we’re there,” Poura said.

On Thursday, Reed wouldn’t say what his clients’ next steps would be. He scoffed at the council’s comments that objections should have been raised during the discussion of the zoning changes, rather than the Planning Commission hearing on the dispensary or the subsequent appeal before the council.

“If that’s the proper time, what’s the purpose of the hearing that was advertised to the public?” he said. “Was that a farce? Was that a show? And why did the city require us to pay $750 to appeal?”