The Tempe City Council is being asked to expand the number of marijuana dispensaries within the City’s boundaries from 2 to 13. The first public hearing for the request will take place during the Council’s April 20 meeting.
City staff prepared materials in which they provided information from the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS), which found that “a combined total of about 2,300 pounds of medical marijuana were sold in Tempe during 2016” from the two existing Tempe dispensaries. “This results in a total of 13,468.75 pounds which makes-up approximately 85% of their full prescription that was available. The patients could have purchased from other nearby dispensaries in bordering cities or from one of the many delivery services that allege to represent other licensed dispensaries,” according to the report.
Tempe’s numbers are in line with the rest of the state which “has approximately 114,439 Qualified Patients that filled approximately 14% of their allowable prescription amounts,” reported staff.
In Maricopa County, 71,773 residents, or 1.7% of the County’s population are medical marijuana card holders. In Tempe, 4,205 residents, or 2.5% of the City’s population are medical marijuana card holders, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Proposition 203 known as the “Arizona Medical Marijuana Act”, was passed by voters in 2010. The law allows a “qualifying patient” who is registered with the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), to legally obtain an “allowable amount of usable marijuana” from a “nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary” and possess and use marijuana to treat or alleviate symptoms associated with a “debilitating medical condition.”
The City of Tempe requires a medical marijuana dispensary or cultivation facility business to apply for a “zoning clearance.”
The proposed amendment to Section 3-426, Medical Marijuana, of Tempe’s Zoning and Development Code:
● Eliminates the dispensary limitation enacted by Ordinance No. O2015.49, “Dispensary Limitations. The maximum number of medical marijuana dispensaries within the Tempe City limits shall be two (2).”
● Increases the separation requirement from one medical marijuana dispensary to another dispensary, measured from parcel to parcel line, from 1,230 feet (1/4 mile) to 2,460 feet (1/2 mile).
Staff report highlights:
● Staff also evaluated the potential number of dispensaries that could possibly comply with the separation requirements.
● In a hypothetical evaluation, the ¼ mile separation estimates a maximum potential of 21 dispensaries in Tempe. The proposed ½ mile separation estimates a potential of 13 dispensaries in Tempe.
There are multiple factors that would further limit the maximum potential dispensaries, including:
● The limited number of vacant sites or buildings within the eligible locations
● The ability to obtain property owner’s authorization whether in support of such use
● A limited availability of desirable commercial frontages (mostly industrial/office locations)
● The overall availability of qualified patients within a limited geographic area
● The Medical Marijuana Act sets a state-wide dispensary limit on the total number based on the number of state registered pharmacies
Staff is recommending the “extended ½ mile separation requirements from one medical marijuana dispensary to another dispensary in order to limit the potential of clustering similar uses, and providing a more appropriate means of dispensary limitation as a result of the land use separation requirements already in place (residential districts and use, childcare facility, elementary or secondary schools, place of worship, public park, library, or public community building).
“The City of Phoenix, Chandler and Mesa have greater separation requirements from dispensary to dispensary (5,280 feet or 1 mile). Other neighboring cities such as Scottsdale and Gilbert have a ¼ mile separation requirement, according to the report.