Parker Leavitt

The Republic | azcentral.com

The Scottsdale City Council approved permits for three new dispensaries near Scottsdale Airport in the past 10 months

Scottsdale restricts new dispensaries to industrial, office or medical-campus zoning districts

Scottsdale leaders want to tighten city rules for medical-marijuana sales amid an influx of new dispensaries and a potential statewide vote to legalize recreational use of the drug this fall.

Five properties in Scottsdale are authorized to sell medical marijuana, more than double from a year ago, according to city records. Four are within a 1-square-mile area in the Scottsdale Airpark near Scottsdale and Thunderbird roads.

The arrival of three new dispensaries over the past year, along with a possible November ballot measure, has prompted City Council members to seek stricter zoning rules for where the businesses can open. A council discussion on the restrictions is scheduled for May 17.

Phoenix made a similar move earlier this month, when the City Council voted to increase separation distances between dispensaries and require them to operate farther from places like churches and homeless shelters.

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Scottsdale's zoning code forbids medical-marijuana dispensaries from operating within 1,320 feet of another location or within 500 feet of a residential neighborhood or school.

A majority of council members appears to support an increase in the required separation distances, a move that would reduce the number of properties eligible to have a dispensary. Council members also have expressed support for a grandfather provision that would exempt existing dispensaries from the new distance requirements.

There is no formal proposal before the council now, and officials will likely craft specific changes to the city's ordinance based on the May 17 discussion.

Arizona's marijuana capital?

The Scottsdale City Council approved permits for three new dispensaries near Scottsdale Airport in the past 10 months, including two in January. The Airpark area might be home to the densest cluster of dispensaries in the Valley, said Ryan Hurley, an attorney for the medical-marijuana industry.

Council members were reluctant to approve the dispensary permits in January, voting 6-1 in support only after the term of the permits was reduced to one year from five — meaning the dispensaries will have to reapply later this year. Vice Mayor David Smith cast the dissenting vote.

North Scottsdale also has one of the highest numbers of medical-marijuana patients in the state, data show.

Medical-marijuana use in Arizona is tracked by Community Health Analysis Areas, which divide the state into about 120 geographic districts. Two districts cover most of Scottsdale, one stretching north from Doubletree Ranch Road and another going south.

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Both districts rank among the top 10 in Arizona for the number of medical-marijuana patients, and North Scottsdale ranks fifth with 2,229 patients, according to state data from January.

Although state regulations initially allowed only one dispensary per district, dispensaries that have operated for at least three years can now move to a new district anywhere in Arizona, even if dispensaries already are there.

That rule has led to a gold rush of sorts as some dispensaries try to tap into more lucrative markets like Scottsdale.

"Scottsdale is a great place to live, a great place to work, a great place to do business," said J.P. Holyoak, founder of Arizona Natural Selections dispensary in Scottsdale. "It doesn't surprise me that they want to move here."

Is it a problem?

Located on Butherus Drive near the Scottsdale Quarter mall, Arizona Natural Selections looks like any other office building — a combination of brick, glass and steel that gives no hint of the goods sold within.

The company's menu features marijuana products like Ganja Goo and Auntie Ellie's Cheeba Chip Cookies. Patients can buy a pre-rolled "chocolate skunk" for $14 or a "medical brownie" for $21, according to the dispensary's website.

Although dispensaries typically are low-key operations that attract little outside attention, many Valley cities have enacted zoning ordinances that regulate business hours, security measures and separation distances from houses and schools.

Scottsdale also restricts them to industrial, office or medical-campus zoning districts, leaving a small fraction of land in the city eligible for dispensaries.

"I think these are businesses that should be treated like any other," Holyoak said. "When you look at the impact on the surrounding community, it's no more than any other business."

City officials told the council in January they've received no complaints about the dispensaries, and Scottsdale Police Department spokesman Kevin Watts said they've caused no problems for law enforcement.

Will the city follow Phoenix?

As Scottsdale considers changing its ordinance, the Phoenix City Council this month approved tighter rules on where dispensaries can operate in that city — requiring a full mile of separation between dispensaries and a quarter-mile from churches, homeless shelters and youth and day-care centers.

Although medical marijuana has not been much of a hot potato for cities over the past three years, the potential ballot initiative to legalize the drug for recreational use has politicized the issue, Hurley said.

"Just about everybody knows somebody or has somebody in their family who is a medical-marijuana patient," Hurley said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't always translate into the same treatment politically."

There are about 89,000 state-approved medical-marijuana patients in Arizona as of January, according to state data. Nearly two in three patients are men, and about a quarter are ages 18-30.

The most-common symptom cited for medical treatment is chronic pain (78 percent of patients), followed by cancer (2.7 percent) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (1.1 percent).