By Maria Polletta |The Arizona Republic
Zoning rules limiting the locations of Mesa medical-marijuana dispensaries could be eased after a potential dispensary operator’s struggle to find an appropriate site sparked a push among city officials to re-examine city guidelines.
Zoning administrator Gordon Sheffield explained at a City Council Community and Cultural Development Committee meeting Sept. 9 that the city’s existing ordinance, which limits medical-marijuana facilities to either light-industrial or general-industrial districts, was adopted when the Arizona Department of Health Services was still working to finalize its dispensary-certification rules.
The council at the time “specifically directed staff to remove any option for placement of [medical-marijuana] facilities on sites located in commercial zoning districts,” according to a memo Sheffield submitted before the meeting.
