Pubdate: Fri, 25 May 2007 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Page: B - 1 Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Authors: Demian Bulwa, Wyatt Buchanan, S.F. Chronicle Staff Writers Note: Chronicle staff writers Elizabeth Fernandez and Andy Ross contributed to this report. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal) SUPERVISOR, PARENTS OWN BUILDING RAIDED BY FEDS Pot Club There Was Investigated in '05 -- Reopened Later San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew, who is being investigated for taking money from businessmen seeking city permits and over questions about whether he meets residency requirements to hold his office, is part-owner with his parents of a building that houses an unlicensed marijuana club, records show. The club, called NorCal Herbal Relief Center, at 1545 Ocean Ave., was raided by federal agents in June 2005 as part of "Operation Urban Harvest," in which at least 19 people were indicted. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent wrote in a sworn affidavit that the medical marijuana dispensary and three others in San Francisco and Oakland were fronts for illegal drug trafficking. The club, then called the Herbal Relief Center, shut. It later reopened, but city officials say it failed to obtain a permit as required. Last June, the city's zoning administrator sent its operators and Jew's parents the second of two notices saying the business was violating city codes and needed to shut or apply for proper permits. City officials say there is no record that Jew's parents, or the operators of the club, ever complied. Nonetheless, the business remains open. Located in a busy commercial district, the one-story green building has mirrored windows and a call box that patrons must use to gain entry. Inside, a man behind a glass window checks for medical cannabis patient cards. On Thursday afternoon, the man at the window avoided a reporter's questions. He said the club's manager was out and he did not know when he would return. He would not provide the manager's name. A half dozen people came and went from the club in an hour. Efforts to reach Jew, who is in China on a trip, and his parents, Howard and Anne Jew of San Francisco, were unsuccessful on Thursday. The supervisor's attorney did not return a telephone message. According to city property records, two-thirds of the building is owned by a trust set up by the parents and the other third by Jew. Matthew Kumin, an attorney representing the dispensary, said Thursday he had not known that Jew was part owner of the building. He, too, declined to identify the owner of the dispensary. "I know my clients are working on trying to get their permits," said Kumin. "It's a big, complicated permit process. I think they're struggling to make sure they do it right." In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 legalizing pot for people with a legitimate medical need, though sale of the drug remained illegal under federal law -- the basis for a series of raids on pot clubs in recent years. Until supervisors acted in 2005, San Francisco officials were in legal limbo, watching as the number of clubs dispensing marijuana grew from nine to more than 40 in five years. Some residents complained the clubs attracted drug dealing and other criminal activity. A new ordinance requires all clubs to apply for permits as MCDs, or medical cannabis dispensaries, through the Department of Public Health. Applicants must show their business fits zoning requirements and submit to fire and health inspections. Operators must pass criminal background checks. And public hearings must be held. Clubs that were operating at the time the local regulations passed in 2005 have until June 30 to obtain permits. Clubs such as NorCal Herbal Relief Center in the building part-owned by Jew were not supposed to open without a permit. Planning officials consider NorCal a new business because it was shut for an extended period following the raid. Larry Kessler, a senior environmental health specialist at the health department, said the business at 1545 Ocean Ave. is among four of 31 known dispensaries in the city that have not even applied for a permit. Among those that have applied, five have obtained provisional permits. The permitting process, Kessler said, takes four months or longer. "If they don't have a final permit by the end of June," Kessler said of the Ocean Avenue club, which he has visited twice in an effort to get it into compliance, "then they're in violation of the planning code and subject to closure." A proposal now in front of the Board of Supervisors, by Supervisor Michaela Alioto-Pier, would extend the deadline until the end of the year. Told of the situation with Jew's property, fellow Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said, "I don't know what to say. At this stage, nothing ceases to amaze me." The FBI investigation of Jew focuses on a $40,000 cash payment Jew said he received from businessmen in his district who were having problems with the city permitting process. Jew said the owners of Quickly tapioca drink shops approached him for help and that the money was intended for a consultant he recommended to them, but a company representative said Jew approached the businessmen and offered his assistance in exchange for cash. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, meanwhile, now says he will give Jew until June 8 to prove that he actually lives in the westside district he represents. Questions about whether the District 4 supervisor meets the city's residency requirements to hold his board seat surfaced last week after federal investigators raided his City Hall office, properties tied to him in the Sunset District and Burlingame, and his Chinatown flower shop. Neighbors of a house on 28th Avenue that Jew claims as his primary residence have said the property has been vacant for years, and utility records show there has been little to no water use since he claimed to have moved into the home before running for office last year. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake