Planners delay move on medical pot store

A San Francisco Planning Commission vote on a contentious medical marijuana dispensary proposed for Visitacion Valley was postponed Thursday to give the city more time to investigate whether a nearby community center qualifies as a “youth serving facility” that would preclude the cannabis store from locating there.

The project sponsor, Connected SF, is proposing a 2,198-square-foot medical cannabis dispensary, or MCD, in two contiguous retail spaces at 5 Leland Ave. and 2400 Bayshore Blvd. The MCD is one of two proposed for that block at the entrance to Visitacion Valley’s retail district. The other, at 2442 Bayshore Blvd., was approved by the Planning Commission in January but has been appealed.

That appeal will be heard on July 19, and the new date for the 5 Leland St. hearing is Sept. 14.

The Connected SF project is opposed by community groups that argue it would have an adverse impact on several nearby facilities that serve young people in a low-income, largely immigrant corner of the city. They contend the two MCDs are being strategically located on the border with San Mateo County, which does not have any dispensaries, to attract customers from out of the city.

Proponents of the project say it would create jobs for residents, provide medicine for the sick, and bolster Visitacion Valley’s retail district by drawing foot traffic.

At the center of the Planning Commission’s decision to postpone the vote was the question of whether the preschool and after-school programs at the Cross Cultural Family Center would qualify as “primarily serving persons under the age of 18.”

Teresa Li, an attorney representing opponents of the MCD, said the continuance “could also mean that the city commissioners are taking the issue seriously and have began considering the disparate impact of having these MCDs to be concentrated in minority low-income neighborhoods.”

If the Board of Appeals overturns the Planning Commission’s approval of 2442 Bayshore, it would probably impact the outcome of the 5 Leland St. dispensary.

Quentin Platt, a partner in the Connected SF dispensary, said the postponement “is a bit of an unexpected delay, but we look forward to presenting our plans to serve the patients and benefit the Visitacion Valley community soon.”