By Richard Smith
Independent Newsmedia

No resident attending the May 17 citizens review meeting on a potential medical marijuana dispensary east of Litchfield Road and south of Waddell Road was outspoken in support of the idea.

Rather the crowd of under 20 residents was divided into two camps — those that do not want to see a dispensary open under any circumstances, and those that may be personally against the concept but recognize it is permitted under law and mainly want to make sure the facility is secure, unobtrusive and well regulated.

The internationally-based CGX Life Sciences is applying for the Conditional Use Permit to operate a State licensed Medical Marijuana Dispensary on 1.43 acres at the northeast corner of Litchfield Road and Soledad Street, in the same shopping center that houses Uptown Alley and AMC Surprise Pointe 14.

The dispensary would be operated by Health for Life, a state-wide medical marijuana operator that operates multiple facilities in the Valley and statewide.

“Given the massive size of the Surprise Community Health Analysis Area and the current and future population of Surprise, the one existing dispensary within Surprise cannot adequately serve and reasonably accommodate current and future patients within Surprise. The proposed dispensary is strategically and more centrally located within the Surprise CHAA, and importantly, will be the most westerly-located dispensary in the area, to more effectively serve current and future patients living in the Surprise CHAA and the greater West Valley,” stated Ben Sobraske, an attorney with Phoenix-based law firm Gammage & Burnham, in an email. “

At its June 1 meeting, the Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission will hear and vote on the application for the conditional use permit.

Yaneth Munoz asked if the facility was essentially a “done deal,” because it meets all the legal requirements. She lives in one of the nearest homes to the proposed dispensary.

“It just kind of stinks that it’s right next to my house, and bowling alley and movie theater. My daughter could have gone to (a local high school). She did not because of all the drug problems I hear about there. So she’s at Barry Goldwater and I volunteer there every single day because I want to see what goes on. We drive from Surprise every day to I-17 and the 101. My daughter is a junior and her ranking is No. 1 out of 502 kids. We drive all the way over there so she does not fall into this little trap,” Ms. Munoz said.

If approved, Health for Life would be the second medical marijuana facility in the city. Sun Valley MMJ Certification Clinic is at 12801 W Bell Road, No. 119.

The location has zoning that approves this use. The chosen site meets state requirements for distances away from schools, parks, residences and places of worship.

Luke Air Force Base noise contour line ensure no future residential development directly to the south of the site.

Planner Hobart Wingard said only medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed on only a small sliver of the southeastern part of Surprise, because proximity to Dysart High School eliminates a large potion of the industrial area.

“I understand what everyone’s concern is, but we need to understand it is zoned for that use. Little if anything we say tonight is going to change that. I am of the belief that some of the people in this room believe some kids can just walk in there and buy some pot. That’s not going to happen. There’s too much of an investment from this person,” resident Doc Sullivan said.

Mr. Sobraske and Lindsay Schube, another attorney with Gammage & Burnham, represented CGX Life Sciences at the citizen meeting.

Ms. Schube said contrary to popular belief, a dispensary follows procedures and protocols similar to a doctors office. The state medical marijuana law approved in 2010 also includes extra security measures for cameras, check-ins and inventory management.

“At the time when you are dispensed any medicine, you are entered into a computer and it goes straight to the state. Another important element of this, I think, is that the state computers are connected to all the dispensaries. If someone goes and buys something at this dispensary, they cannot go to another dispensary in Glendale and buy something above the legal limit. So it’s all highly regulated,” Ms. Schube said.

While he is not a proponent of the law, resident Andy Cepon said some of the protocols in place have made the legal implementation of it more palatable.

For example, once the first facility in Surprise opened, all local home-based operations had to close down.

“There was a drastic problem in this city — I’ll say it, they won’t say it. There were break-ins and strong arm robberies because the locations of these places got out. Police looked at what happened in Washington and Colorado and problem places and tried to cope with it. The law was passed, ‘How can we best control it and regulate it?’” Mr. Cepon said.

Ms. Schube said the quality of businesses and the people operating them has improved with more than six years to work the kinks out.

She said Tempe is working on its third text amendment and studied the incidence of crime in the areas around the two dispensaries, the cultivation site, local pharmacies and liquor stores. The greatest amount of crime is for a pharmacy while the three medical medical marijuana sites were at the low end.

“These are good business owners and the ones who are not are getting flushed out,” Ms. Schube said.

Residents also asked if a paraphernalia business could locate on the 1,000-square-foot office attached to the 2,500-suqare-foot dispensary. Ms. Schube said the owners are willing to agree to a stipulation eliminating that and associated businesses from that smaller space.

Other concerns included the facility converting to a recreational marijuana business once that is legalized, the effect on property values and if the requirements to get a card were legitimate

Surprise resident and real estate broker Ward Adams said the buffer zones around a medical marijuana facility include schools, parks and residential areas primarily to limit the exposure of children. Yet Uptown Alley and AMC Surprise Pointe 14 regularly draw large numbers of families with young kids.

“You’re parking something — good, bad or indifferent — that has a negative reputation. There are certain communities in the city where I have a hard time selling homes because the word gets out. The one already in the city is in an industrial area. It’s out of sight, out of mind. This one you’re going to park right in the middle of the entertainment hub of this area,” Mr. Adams said.