AÂ second disputed project in weeks had a Planning and Zoning board member wondering if, when neighbors donât like a developerâs plans, âIs it just tough luck?â
Indeed, for the second time in weeks, neighbors are upset about building plans, claiming developers reneged on agreements.
Yet the disputed plans were approved.
First, neighbors of a 30-acre office development near Riverview in northeast Mesa begged the Planning and Zoning Board and Mesa City Council for months to reject plans for a four-story garage.Â
The neighbors said this went against an agreement they had with the developer not to build that high. But city officials noted that the neighbors had no written evidence to support their claims and approved the Waypoint plan April 19.
Operators in the Arizona cannabis industry attribute the phenomenon of long lines to a variety of factors.
For one, there s the public s sheer enthusiasm for marijuana. People are coming to dispensaries in droves. Even before Proposition 207 the ballot measure that legalized the consumption and sale of recreational marijuana was approved during the 2020 general election, medical marijuana sales were through the roof.
Then there s the fact that many dispensaries are maintaining social distancing and other pandemic-era protocols, despite Governor Doug Ducey s recent executive order repealing the remaining COVID-19 mitigation measures. I see the lines continuing probably towards the end of the year, in part because of social-distancing requirements and in part because the demand is still there, said Raul Molina, chief operating officer at The Mint, which runs dispensaries in Tempe, Mesa, and Phoenix. There’s still the sexiness of coming into the dispensary, seeing it for t
Scube did not respond to
New Times request for comment, and Curaleaf declined to comment. But the answer is rather simple: Curaleaf already operates a medical marijuana dispensary in Gilbert, and under Prop 207, medical dispensaries are allowed to pursue recreational marijuana licenses. If the Gilbert Town Council approved the ordinance, Curaleaf could become a “dual licensee” (a facility that sells both medical and recreational cannabis) and, crucially, the only pot shop in town. In effect, Curaleaf would have a monopoly in Gilbert.
Which it now does: The Gilbert Town Council unanimously approved the ordinance.
Others have since followed Gilbert’s lead, creating de-facto monopolies for existing medical marijuana facilities and building barriers for new players looking to get into the new recreational cannabis market in Arizona. In the weeks after the election, several local governments passed similar laws, including Scottsdale, Mesa, Goodyear, and Surprise. Tempe is cur