Paul Morrison, on behalf of Protect Our Sonoma Valley Neighborhoods, appealed a Board of Zoning Adjustments decision to permit a cannabis dispensary on the corner of Arnold Drive and Madrone Road, just outside Glen Ellen and the Sonoma Developmental Center.
The BZA decision was basically to not require the applicant, John Lobro and Loe Firehouse Dispensary, LLC, to do a complete Environmental Impact Report to proceed with the project.
“This neighborhood is 99 percent residential and full of families,” Morrison said in an interview after he filed the appeal on April 19.
Both sides assert support, but many nearby residents just do not like the idea of a pot store in the neighborhood, no matter how secure and well organized it might be.
The BZA commissioners found the fact that the firehouse is actually within 100 feet of several homes was not significant, and that requirement had been waived in several similar applications.
The seven-page appeal cites legal issues, setbacks, what constitutes a proper “physical separation” between the project and residences, and calculations for parking spaces required, and questions a two-year-old traffic report.