Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2011 Source: Sierra Vista Herald (AZ) Copyright: 2011 Sierra Vista Herald Contact: http://www.svherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1379 Author: Derek Jordan, Herald/Review PLANNED MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY DERAILED BY COUNCIL MEMBERS Huachuca City Council Was Opposed to Clinic's Location HUACHUCA CITY - The hopes of a local business owner to open a medical clinic coupled with a marijuana dispensary were stifled Thursday after the Board of Adjustments unanimously voted to deny a variance that would have allowed him to build the facility near a children's center. The 5-0 vote means that Dusk Till Dawn Cabaret owner Steve Bagdonas, along with his business partners, will not have the necessary permission to continue forward with an application to the state health department for a dispensary. All council members were present for the vote, however Council member Donna Johnson abstained from voting and Mayor Byron Robertson may only vote to break a tie at Board of Adjustment meetings. Johnson would not say why she did not cast a vote. Other council members took issue with the proximity of the proposed facility - south of the cabaret - to the nearby Cochise County Children's Center. "I just don't think that's an appropriate location," said council member Laura Wallace. "I'm open minded. I can look at the pros and the cons (of medical marijuana), but at that location, no." Councilman Gene McCullough said Bagdonas' reasoning that a clinic and dispensary would bring in tax dollars to the city was unconvincing. "You haven't got that many people that would be coming in there. We're talking about a very small clientele," McCullough said. "I don't want it here." Town code requires any dispensary to be no closer than 1,000 feet from any church, public park, school or child care center. A dispensary so close to a children's center would send the wrong message, said Councilman Ken Taylor. "Most of those kids are coming out of broken homes where their parents have had drug problems, and I think that having a dispensary that close would just be a constant reminder," Taylor said. After the vote, Bagdonas said the decision could hurt the town's ability to attract new businesses to the area. "They just don't want any new commerce here. It just seems like Huachuca City wants to stay exactly the way it is and not change with the times," he said. "In this hard economy, you would think that they would look for anything that might prosper." The vote followed a public hearing on the issue in which no one spoke out in favor of or against the variance, except for longtime Huachuca City resident Elmer Urda. As long as the signage of the proposed medical plaza and dispensary did not depict marijuana, and the facility would not smell of the plant, Urda said he was in favor of it coming to Huachuca City. "If it helps people, I'm all for it," he said. Bagdonas said he had no plans to attempt to establish a dispensary elsewhere in the area or state. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.