By Doug Curlee | Editor at Large

Living Green, the medical marijuana cooperative that has been in a legal tangle with the city over its former unpermitted operation on Rainier Street in Grantville, suffered another blow to its chances for a legal permit when a city hearing officer denied the cooperative’s application at an April 22 hearing.

Hearing Officer Ken Teasley accepted the city staff recommendation to deny a conditional use permit to Living Green.

During the public comment portion of the hearing, opponents had mentioned several instances of Living Green’s previous unpermitted operations at the proposed site on Rainier Street and said Living Green should not be given another chance. Teasley, though, paid little attention to those comments, relying instead on a fact that could not only sink Living Green’s chances there, but torpedo the hopes of two other Grantville area applicants.

It seems that not only the 4417 Rainier address, but a competing applicant next door at 4427 Rainer, and a third applicant on Glacier Street also fall afoul of the city ordinance that requires medical marijuana consumer cooperatives to be located at least 1,000 feet away from city parks.

City staff say all three applicants are less than 1,000 feet from dedicated parkland, the undeveloped Mission Valley Riparian space along the San Diego River. The area, basically inaccessible right now, may eventually become part of a San Diego River park project. That would preclude any sort of commercial development of the area itself. It’s less clear why the law says it disqualifies marijuana dispensaries, but that is how city staff have interpreted it.

Moffitt Timlake owns the building at 4427 Rainier St. He and his group are more or less at the start of the approval process for a medical marijuana consumer cooperative permit, and he worries that he’ll be shut out before he has a chance to make his case.

“I sure don’t see why being 980 feet away from a park space you can’t even get to should affect our application,” Timlake said. “The way the city is doing this, first come first served, may see all the District 7 spots taken before we even get to a hearing.”

That does not appear likely to happen. A number of people involved on both sides of the medical marijuana efforts think the city has no intention of allowing 36 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. The law says 36 is the maximum allowable — four in each of the nine council districts — but nowhere does it say that 36 must be approved.

Where all this stands right now is simple and clear-cut. Living Green has only one chance left: appeal to the Planning Commission and persuade it to override the hearing officer’s denial and grant the conditional use permit. If it cannot make that case, it would appear the only recourse Living Green might have is through the courts. Unlike other appeals to the Planning Commission, a denial there in this case cannot be appealed to the City Council. The Planning Commission decision is absolutely final.

Timlake’s application is just now at the stage where the city is evaluating an environmental determination under CEQA, which means he still has a long way to go.

“We just hope the commission will listen to people,” Timlake said. “We think our business is compatible with the area, and our building is much better than Living Green’s was for all aspects, including parking and security.”

Timlake may have a case there, but by the time he finally gets to the Planning Commission, it may be too late. The Planning Commission may have already validated the 1000-foot separation requirement.

He may be 20 feet too close, and he can’t move his building.

—Write to Doug Curlee at [email protected].