SANTA CRUZ — The Hook Outlet was given the green light to do business on the site of the former Emily’s Bakery at 1129 Mission St. in Santa Cruz after an appeal opposing the dispensary was denied by the Santa Cruz City Council at its meeting Tuesday.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support from the community,” Hook Outlet co-owner Bryce Berryessa told the Sentinel. “The outpouring of letters, signatures and attendance at meetings has been truly humbling. We’re excited to finally put our full focus on bringing this project to life and working hand-in-hand with WAMM Phytotherapies to expand their crucial services to the Westside.”
The Hook Outlet was approved in early March by the city of Santa Cruz Planning Commission in a 5-2 vote. About a week later, on March 14, an appeal was filed by eight community members who felt that the proximity of the dispensary to Santa Cruz High School and Mission Hill Middle School could have a harmful effect on the health and well-being of students.
According to state law, a cannabis retail establishment must be at least 600 feet away from a school and in the fall of 2017, the Santa Cruz City Council adopted an ordinance establishing and reiterating the 600-foot buffer from schools. Cannabis dispensaries in the city are also required to be 600 feet away from each other, parks with playgrounds, day care and youth centers. The Hook Outlet on Mission Street is 850 feet from Santa Cruz High School and approximately 1,360 feet from Mission Hill Middle School.
At the Santa Cruz City Council meeting Tuesday, the appeal hearing began at 5:30 p.m. and the council chambers’ pews were filled with those both supporting and opposing the establishment of the dispensary.
Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley started the hearing with an explanation of how the meeting will run including a request not to cheer or jeer while others are speaking. Earlier at the meeting, while reviewing the findings of the cannabis subcommittee formed in April, Keeley apologized for attempting to establish a moratorium on cannabis businesses alongside the formation of a subcommittee meant to study cannabis taxes and regulations.
“The council did the right thing by not adopting that,” said Keeley earlier in the meeting. “I wanted to apologize for creating a lot of kerfuffle in front of that. The idea was to be able to have time to look at these issues separate and apart from the issue we are going to take up tonight.”
At the appeal hearing Tuesday evening, Santa Cruz Senior Planner Ryan Bane gave a presentation reviewing the March Planning Commission meeting and providing a rundown of the dispensary and the concerns of the appellants, before providing the opposing staff recommendations to either uphold the appeal or deny it and ultimately approve the administrative use permit that allows the Hook Outlet to establish itself at 1129 Mission St.
“In conclusion, the proposed cannabis retail use meets all of the objective standards laid out in the city’s zoning code,” Bane said during the meeting. “That being said, the subjective findings allow the City Council additional discretion to consider the potential impacts the use could have on high school and middle school students in proximity to the schools and the Mission Street pedestrian crossing. There are certainly merits to both arguments and both sides present very valid points.”
The eight appellants were represented at the meeting by Melinda White, a physician and Santa Cruz High School parent.
“I represent a large group of educators and therapists and doctors that work with kids and we have significant concerns about this dispensary being in this location,” said White during the meeting. “We have no dispute with legalized marijuana. When it’s legal, it keeps it clean. It keeps it safe and accessible and that’s great. We are also not opposed to recreational use by adults. That is not the issue.”
After White’s presentation, Derek Kendall, principal of Mission Hill Middle School, talked about how easy it is for young people to get fake IDs and subsequently use them at dispensaries, and Santa Cruz High School Principal Michelle Poirier spoke to the high levels of cannabis use among students at the high school.
“This year, we have seen more than double the instances of students under the influence of cannabis at school,” Poirier said at the meeting.
Following further testimony from appellant and Santa Cruz High School parent Annette Olson, Berryessa and WAMM Phytotherapies Executive Director Valerie Corral elaborated on how they have met and exceeded state and local regulations in the establishment of their business and how they just want to be treated like other cannabis dispensaries in the city.
“Whatever happens here today, we share this community with each other,” said Corral at the meeting. “Whether we are in agreement or not, we are still part of the same community and that’s one of the most profoundly important things, how we need each other and how we work together.”
Following questions and comments by councilmembers, the hearing was opened for public comment and approximately 60 community members lined up to provide about two hours of testimony. Among those that spoke, about 10 voiced opposition to the dispensary.
Following public comment, Councilmember Sandy Brown made a motion to deny the appeal and allow the dispensary to establish itself, which was seconded by Councilmember Scott Newsome. Keeley then said that he would support the motion to deny the appeal due to lack of evidence that the dispensary would have a negative effect on students.
Councilmember Kalantari-Johnson then expressed that she could support the motion with the addition of a series of friendly amendments, which other councilmembers felt weren’t yet vetted and Berryessa expressed were too subjective in language.
After deliberation, language acceptable to Brown and Kalantari-Johnson was agreed on and the motion to deny the appeal passed 6-1 with Councilmember Renee Golder opposing.
Now clear to establish the Hook Outlet on Mission Street, Berryessa hopes to open the new dispensary this fall.
“We’re already collaborating with the building department to obtain permits and are working diligently to open our doors as soon as possible,” said Berryessa. “If all goes smoothly, we hope to open on September 5th, marking the 22nd anniversary of the DEA raid on WAMM. It would be a fitting tribute to their resilience and a powerful symbol of our collective progress.”
