Wrangler news editor’s note: This is an updated version of the front-page story in our edition delivered to households and racks. We had already gone to press when the city of Tempe responded to a follow-up question about the appeals process.
By | Wrangler News
The vacant space inside the strip mall on the southwest corner of McClintock Drive and Warner Road in South Tempe will not be the place to buy tobacco, bongs, rolling papers or smoking paraphernalia, thanks to the efforts of a group of nearby residents.
Gravitate Smoke Shop, which operates stores in Scottsdale and Peoria, applied to Tempe’s Development Review Commission for a use permit but was denied last month at a public hearing. Tempe spokeswoman Nikki Ripley said that the business owner had missed the deadline for appeal to the DRC but that the applicant did have the option to file an appeal in Superior Court.
“From the city’s perspective, the use permit denial stands,” Ripley said. “Re-application or new application of the same cannot submitted to the city for at least one year after the decision.”
