Mann & Rogers
For more than two years our neighborhood in the Central Business District has pushed back against the City of Fort Bragg’s efforts towards permitting cannabis dispensaries and other types of cannabis operations within the CBD. What began as a tussle with the City Council over efforts to issue a cannabis permit at 144 N. Franklin Street, has escalated to include a community-wide coalition against such permits. The opposition includes hundreds of anti-cannabis signatures from merchants, property owners, and residents; two voter initiative petitions presently making their way among registered Fort Bragg voters, and a very sour taste over ill-conceived administrative attempts to by-pass due process and totally ignore legitimate residential neighborhood cannabis concerns.
Suddenly it appears our City Council may finally be listening to the serious roar to protect residential neighborhoods shouldering the East side of the Central Business District. This new conversation embraced by most Council members at the February 28th Meeting — would essentially prohibit commercial cannabis dispensaries, nurseries, manufacturing, or distribution from being permitted on the East side of North Franklin Street., including to the Eastern Boundary of the CBD.
This would be achieved either by measured Buffer Zones; or by a unified Exclusionary Zone prohibiting cannabis operations of any kind from the Center Line of North Franklin St., and anywhere East of that Center Line, within the CBD. This more streamlined Exclusionary Zone Option would in turn only allow cannabis permits West of the Franklin St. Center Line.
There are other issues to be ironed out with regard to the proposed West side cannabis applications which subsequently would be permitted (environmental, review, project sizes, etc.). But in the interest of a compromise that promises to respect and protect neighborhood rights, we endorse the East Side of The N. Franklin St. Center Line Cannabis Exclusion Zone Option. And we sincerely hope there are no political ploys designed to blow up this compromise at the last moment, which would undermine the Fort Bragg Planning Commission’s diligent efforts to stand up for neighbors and neighborhoods.
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