HAYWARD — A cannabis dispensary looking to open up in Hayward has met resistance from the city’s planning commission and some residents who were not convicted the business is a good fit for a commercial area that already has a marijuana shop.
Dozens of residents spoke before the commission at the Sept. 25 meeting, with the majority rallying against the dispensary and claiming the shop would also impact children attending a nearby martial arts academy, Ta Danado Jiu Jitsu. In the end, the planning commission voted against recommending that the Hayward City Council approve a conditional use permit for Phenos, which is seeking to open up a 15,000-square-foot shop at 21463 Foothill Blvd.
Ron Roberts, a spokesman for Modesto-based Phenos, acknowledged residents’ concerns about another pot shop coming to the city, but argued that increased security and an influx of consumers could help revitalize the space previously occupied by a Walgreens. The dispensary would have two security guards, 24/7 camera surveillance and a parking lot that already exists onsite for other tenants of the shopping center, he said.
“There’s some insecurity when you tell surrounding businesses that a cannabis operator is going to in the building that’s adjacent to yours. But we have a stack of letters of recommendations, now, today, from people that had these insecurities … and now they’re all supportive of it,” Roberts said. “Most of these businesses couldn’t afford that traffic coming to buy donuts, or to visit their dental shop or the additional consumers that will be signing up for that karate shop.”
After the council in 2017 voted to allow brick-and-mortar dispensaries, two have opened: Garden of Eden at 21227 Foothill Blvd., which expanded in 2018, and Cookies at 1004 B St.
Planning Commissioner Robert Stevens, who remained steadfastly against the dispensary, said he was concerned about the proximity of the proposed Phenos site to Garden of Eden. If approved and built, Phenos would be a about block away on Foothill Boulevard.
“Just like we don’t cluster liquor stores or other types of activities like this, this is poor land planning,” said Stevens, who added he doesn’t support armed private security on the site. “The only people that should be armed are the city of Hayward’s police department.”
Stevens also complained that he often smells marijuana smoke along B Street and asked how residents can report public cannabis consumption. He also asked for clarification on how the city can revoke the permits of dispensaries found out of compliance with regulations. In response, city officials told the commission that both code enforcement and police take complaints of public marijuana smoke and that the city can shut down a dispensary only if repeated violations go continuously uncorrected.
Cannabis attorney Zach Drivon, who works with Phenos, presented a letter of support supposedly from the Jiu Jitsu gym to the commission, and addressed concerns about the shop’s effects on the nearby community.
“When you talk about youth access to cannabis, it is not coming from regulated cannabis dispensaries,” he said. “We are one of the most regulated businesses in the entire state of California. Where children are getting it is in smoke shops where they are selling soda pop and candy bars next to psilocybin mushrooms and cannabis as well.”
Nevertheless, the majority of residents who attended the commission meeting were opposed to the shop.
A junior at Mt. Eden High School said she has seen students smoke weed in the bathrooms, hallways and classrooms in school. She worried another dispensary could put youth at risk of health problems.
“I urge you to say no for the sake of all youth in Hayward,” she said.
Mike Uchida, owner of the now-closed Grove Way Bonsai Nursery, wrote to commissioners ahead of the meeting to express that he is “adamantly” opposed to the “disturbing” dispensary proposal, and asked “how many more weed shops does Hayward need?”
“Please don’t turn this property into another drugstore,” Uchida wrote. “I get it, you need the tax money but can you do better.”
The commission voted 5-1 against recommending the new dispensary, with the newest commissioner, Vasko Yorgov, casting the only vote in favor of issuing the conditional use permit. Commissioner Jeffrey Haman recused himself from the discussion and vote because he is a client of the dispensary applicant’s tax preparation business, according to city spokesman Chuck Finnie.
Before the vote, Yorgov said the decision was “not a choice between a Walgreens and a dispensary” but a “choice (about) a vacant storefront in Hayward.”
The City Council, which has final say on the permit, is expected to discuss and vote on the matter at a future meeting.