Ordinance Would Limit Two New Medical Marijuana Facilities to Downtown Fairfax

The Fairfax Town Council this month approved an extension of thewithin town limits, as it irons out the final kinks in an ordinance that would likely limit the number and location of any additional medical marijuana facilities. 

The current medical marijuana dispensary in town, on School Street, is not affected by the moratorium or, necessarily, by the new ordinance.

“It’s a lucrative business; it’s a competitive business; it’s also a changing landscape,” said Planning Director Jim Moore at the town council’s April 6 meeting.

At that meeting, Moore presented a revised ordinance to the town council that would allow either two or three total dispensaries in town in the downtown commercial districts. However, because of AB 2650, which went into effect on Jan. 1, no dispensary can be within 600 feet of a school. With three small schools in the downtown area, this limits the area where a possible dispensary could be located.

The map at right shows the buffer zones from where dispensaries would not be allowed by state law. The Marin Alliance would be grandfathered in. The yellow parcels are where possible new dispensaries could go under the ordinance – including , along the east and west ends of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, and on Bolinas Road near the 7-11.

It was pointed out that one of the parcels now being allowed on the west end of Sir Francis Drake was one of the last summer due to parking and location concerns, prompting this review of a new medical marijuana ordinance.

The council asked for the ordinance to go back to staff to work on parking issues and to refine language that requires a state medical marijuana ID card.

Most importantly, though, the council wanted to work out what might happen after the ordinance goes into effect and the town sees a rush of applicants competing for the possible facility locations.

“Woe is the business owner who has a business in one of those parcels at the moment,” said Council Member Lew Tremaine.

Council Member John Reed raised the concern that current business owners could be forced out by landlords who hoped to get a more lucrative, higher-rent-paying medical marijuana facility in one of their properties. Additionally, he argued that if applications for one of the medical marijuana facility permits are required to be connected to a specific location, then it could preemptively force out current businesses. And, once the one or two additional permits are handed out, then the losing applicants would abandon their leases, leaving empty storefronts. 

How to deal with the rush of possible applicants is the remaining large issue for the town to figure out.

In Oakland, which is also going through a lottery process – where medical marijuana facilities have submitted applications for a limited number of permits – the business hopefuls have paid large sums of money to cover the costs of staff time. 

Fairfax could enact a similar model. Staff is expected to come back in May with a revised ordinance, focusing on a possible two-step lottery process and background on what the ranking criteria for applicants will be: applicants for the additional one or two permits (the existing facility would be grandfathered in) would first be considered based on their qualifications; they would then go on to sign a lease and be attached to any specific location.

At its special April 14 meeting, the town council extended the moratorium until the new ordinance is able to take effect.