Marin County awarded a cannabis license Tuesday to a business just outside Mill Valley’s boundary, despite opposition from some residents within city limits.
Elite Herbs, which applied for a medicinal cannabis delivery-only service at 25 Evergreen Ave., is now the third business to secure an approved location in unincorporated Marin. The other two are in San Rafael.
The city of Mill Valley has adopted an ordinance to prohibit all cannabis dispensaries within its limits.
The location on Evergreen Avenue is in an area zoned for office use around the corner from the Whole Foods market on Miller Avenue. It is also less than a mile from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley.
On Monday night, the Tamalpais Union High School District’s board of trustees voted 4-0 to voice their objection to the business being located there.
Inge Lundegaard, the county’s cannabis program manager, however, told Marin supervisors Tuesday that the location meets state and local requirements since it is more than 600 feet from a school, daycare center or playground.
“There is no comparable industry that is regulated to the extent that the cannabis industry is now regulated,” Lundegaard said. “Since this facility is not open to the public, it is similar in use to an office space that has consumer products stored onsite.”
Supervisor Kate Sears verified with Lundegaard that there is no possibility that the business might begin selling cannabis onsite at the location in the future. Lundegaard said the county ordinance that granted Elite its license would prevent that as would the area’s zoning, which prohibits retail establishments.
At Sears’ prompting, Lundegaard also confirmed that Elite has no plans to post signs that would make it obvious what its business is.
Nevertheless, three Mill Valley residents spoke in opposition during the hearing that preceded the supervisors’ vote.
“We know that some legal businesses have been known to have illegal activities onsite,” said Elizabeth O’Donnell. “What is the county’s responsibility for ensuring that illegal activity doesn’t happen and that marijuana products aren’t being sold to youth?”
O’Donnell said she recently moved to Mill Valley from Denver, Colorado, where recreational cannabis was legalized in 2012.
“Marijuana businesses changed my neighborhood significantly,” O’Donnell said.
Claire Conway, who said she lives half a block from where the delivery business will be located, expressed skepticism that the business would play by the rules and only sell to people who have a legitimate doctor’s recommendation.
Conway said that instead of hanging out at the local frozen yogurt shop after school kids will “be scoring weed a half a block from my house by calling for Sol Food delivery and weed at the same time.”
“It is inevitably going to change the neighborhood,” she said, “and totally destroy the value of my home.”
Stephen DeLapp said, “I’m asking that you slow this process down. Like it or not this remains an illegal substance at the national level. It’s an illegal substance in many countries throughout the world. This is not a settled issue.”
Michael Callahan, CEO of Elite Herbs, said, “All of our patients supplied us with a medical recommendation prior to scheduling their first delivery. We have pushed back against the stoner stereotype for years and have always believed that those genuinely in need deserve to have their medicine discreetly delivered to them.”
Callahan said the patients Elite Herbs delivers to had been forced to drive to get their medicine prior to connecting with his company.
He added, “The building the company will reside in has security that rivals a casino, permits zero foot traffic or cannabis signage and from the exterior looks like a dentist’s office.”
Lundegaard said prior to the legalization of recreational cannabis in California in late 2016, regulation of medicinal cannabis was fairly lax. Today, however, she said those recommendations are more carefully vetted.
Lundegaard said it is illegal to sell medical cannabis to anyone under the age of 18. She said in addition to a doctor’s recommendation, customers between the ages of 18 and 21 must get an identification card issued by the Marin County Health and Human Services Department to purchase medicinal cannabis.
Tom Lai, assistant director of the county’s Community Development Agency, pointed out that cannabis deliveries are already being made into Marin from businesses located outside the county.
Supervisor Dennis Rodoni said he believes Elite Herbs is operated by responsible people.
“They risk a lot if they don’t manage their business the way we intended,” Rodoni said. “I think that the risk that everyone sees is really less than it appears. There is no reason why this application should be denied.”
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