Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jul 2011 Source: San Pedro Valley News-Sun (AZ) Copyright: 2011 Benson News Sun Contact: http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3639 Author: Dana Cole, San Pedro Valley News-Sun DISPENSARY PERMITS OK'D BY CITY P&Z Following a public hearing on June 28, the city Planning and Zoning Commission approved two conditional use permit applications for medical marijuana dispensaries in Benson. The conditional use approval is just the first step in a long process that will need to go through the Arizona Department of Health Services. "This is a competitive process where the state will approve one application within a Community Health Analysis Area," said Michelle Johnson, a technician for Benson's Planning and Zoning Commission. "There are about 126 of these health analysis zones across the state, with one medical marijuana dispensary for each zone." One of the two conditional use applications submitted to Benson's P&Z commission was by Adam Sheafe, a representative of the Nature Wellness Center, with the second submission by Bryan Hill who represented the Benson Herbal Center. If approved by the state, Nature Wellness will be operating a dispensary at 310 S. Ocotillo Ave., while the Benson Herbal Center is proposing a dispensary at 695 E. Fourth Street. The state's initial application submission deadline was set for June 30, but Gov. Jan Brewer has placed a hold on applications for medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation sites because of a number of legal concerns. Now that the state's application deadline has been extended, a third conditional use permit for Benson has been submitted and will be heard by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission on July 19 for possible approval. The proposed dispensary's location is a former Family Dollar Store located at 496 N. Ocotillo St. If approved, three different applications from the City of Benson will be reviewed by the state. Benson falls within a Community Health Analysis Area that extends (roughly) from the Pima County line in the J-Six area on its western-most boundary, north to the Graham County line, south to the Benson city limit line and east to Dragoon Road. "It represents a huge area," Johnson said. "This is an extremely competitive process." Along with the applications from the City of Benson, there is another application that the county P&Z commission will be considering for approval, a site north of Dragoon Road, which shares a health analysis area with Benson, Johnson said. If that site's special use permit application is approved by the county, the state could, for all intents and purposes, decide the Dragoon Road location is the most suitable for a medical marijuana dispensary. The state makes the final decision of which of the different sites will be selected, looking at a list of stringent criteria, with one dispensary in each of the 126 community health areas. The county Planning and Zoning Commission is holding a public hearing today at 4 p.m. at the Cochise County Board of Supervisors hearing room, 1415 Melody Lane, Building G in Bisbee to consider four medical marijuana special use application requests for the following purposes and locations: Medical marijuana dispensary cultivation and infusion facility, 6687 East Highway 90 in Sierra Vista. The application has been submitted by RRB Enterprises, LLC. Medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facility at 86 East Redwing Lane in Whetstone, located east of Highway 90. The applicant is Lisa Landy. Medical marijuana cultivation facility at 3516 West La Luna Drive in Douglas. The applicant, Julia Patten, intends to install a greenhouse for marijuana cultivation, which will be sold offsite. Medical clinic and a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facility located at 2941 Old Coyote Rd. in Cochise, north of Dragoon Rd. The application has been submitted by Treatment and Health Centers, LLC and is represented by Catherine Mead. In November, voters approved Proposition 203, the Medical Marijuana Act, which allows the use of medical marijuana in Arizona for people with chronic medical and debilitating conditions. The Arizona Department of Health Services has drafted rules surrounding the implementation of Prop. 203. Under the law, physicians may prescribe medical marijuana for patients with such conditions as cancer, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, lateral sclerosis and glaucoma, to name a few. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.