Despite much local enthusiasm for a cannabis dispensary in the Sonoma Valley, applicants have had a hard time making headway against wary neighbors, inconsistent permit processes and regulations that limit the places a new business can grow.
Locally, a Sonoma City Council majority is standing fast in its refusal to allow a dispensary, medical or adult use, inside the 2.74-square mile city limits. Outside of city limits, however, finding a legal and likely site poses a different set of problems.
That challenge is complicated by opposition from 1st District Supervisor Susan Gorin to one prime commerical corridor in the Springs that seems otherwise appropriate to a cannabis business.
Sonoma County is authorized to license nine dispensaries in unincorporated areas (though there is some discussion of raising that cap). As yet there are only five in operation and three more applications pending – two of them in Sonoma Valley.
Among the Valley applicants is Apothevert, a medicinal cannabis dispensary which has successfully applied for a permit at 15499 Arnold Drive, at the corner of Madrone. It’s a potential site which drew a protest of neighbors on May 14, and failed to garner support last month from the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission.
