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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/21/2012 - STAFF REPORTS - 5D 505 Erg,inr_sd'iai CA Suite A Pain Spin q CA 92264 7 50.770.1309 �a,,vw.psaccess.crg March 13,2012 City of Palm Springs Mayor/City Council/City Manager 3200 East Palm Tahquitz Palm Springs, CA Re: Application of Business License/Palm Springs Safe Access, 505 E. Industrial Place Suite A, Palm Springs, CA 92264 I Dear City Council, My name is Alice Jensen and I am a former employee and member of Cannahelp. I am an active medical cannabis patient and former owner of Jensen's Carpet Care. I am a strong advocate of Medical Cannabis and wished to assist Stacy Hochanadel in supporting Cannahelp. Upon my several months of employment at Cannahelp as assistant manager, I noticed many occurrences that transpired at Cannahelp that were unethical, against city code and frankly, illegal. I quit Cannahelp and the experience left a very bad taste in my mouth. Over the months, I decided that it is people Ake me that need to set the example and when I heard that Stacy was evicted from his location, I got together with a few former patients and we decided to start a cooperative that would live up to the expectations of proper conduct and business ethics. I have teamed up with two strong advocated from San Francisco and secured the lease of 505 E. Industrial Place in Palm Springs and have spent over $100K dollars on costs related to securing a lease, improving the cosmetic aspect of the dispensary, formation of a new Inc. cooperative (PS Safe Access, Inc.), etc. and are looking to secure the now available medical cannabis city business. I have surrounded myself with strong advocates that not only support the cause of safe access as well as have the business and ethical background to follow-through to the standards of the cause and your city ordinance. I am formally requesting that the city council vote to allow PS Safe Access, Inc. the ability to submit an application for a business license. Thank you again for your time and consideration to this matter and I look forward to working with the city on moving this cause forward. ce ly Co-Founder PS Safe Access Cooperative, Inc. 505 East Industrial Plc Suite A Palm Springs, CA 92264 Safe Access 760.778,1309 www.psaccess.org Monday,March 19,2012 Steve Pougnet Mayor of Palm Springs 3200 East Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs,California 92262 Dear Mayor Pougnet My name is Robert Van Roo.I sincerely hope my previous letter found it's way to you.As I said before I've relocated here to Palm Springs due to numerous requests of previous members of Cannahelp. I was present for the March 7 h city council meeting and understand now that the license was not available.I hope that with this next city council meeting the license might become available for new applicants. I heard your response to Ginny Foat's comments and understand how hard you both worked to get the ordinance passed.I would like to use the rest of this letter to give you a greater understanding of who we are as an organization. The mission of our organization is simple:to deliver a comfortable experience in a clean and modern facility,offer outstanding service alongside quality medicine,to always stay up to date on the most technologically advanced products,and maintain affordable solutions for our patients. We are dedicated to evaluating and implementing the most personalized solutions specifically designed for the needs of each individual member.Continually evolving and adapting with the rapid changes taking place in the medical cannabis movement in both the scientific and political realms is a staple of our philosophy.We will also work to protect our members'right to safe access to their medicine while also providing laboratory tested Cannabis to provide safe,clean,effective,and reliable medicine to those who need it most,our members. We are committed to synergistic goals of serving our members,our community,and creating positive social change.The goal is to focus our energies on the health of our members from a holistic personal viewpoint and simultaneously providing access to and information on healthy lifestyle alternatives for the entire community. We believe in change,both socially and environmentally in all its varied forms and expressions.While it may first be noticed in our visual aesthetic and vibrant energy when you walk through our doors,this positive and progressive change will become ever more apparent in the many ways that we will serve our community.This community is recognized as not being limited to just our active members but includes all residents of our City. We are compelled by these challenging times to show what medical cannabis can truly do when a cooperative is operated on an ethical platform run with core principals of compassion.These changes will come in many forms,starting with significant donations of the cooperative's revenues to benefit health and welfare organizations,such as Desert Aids Project and local other local charities.We anticipate providing free services including wellness classes,acupuncture,massage therapy,yoga,and counseling.These benefits will be available for both our members and anyone from affiliated organizations that we support. We passionately believe that the benefits of medicinal cannabis and the resources created by a nonprofit cooperative and made available to the community at large can act both as relief for those in need and as a conduit for facilitating greater change-funding the enrichment of our community and the lives of its citizens. These goals can be accomplished by eliminating the greed that seems endemic to our movement.Rectifying such injustices requires us to act and operate under the same set of principles and open acceptance upon which this City itself operates. Just as the City of Palm Springs is progressive,tolerant,open and accepting of all people without regard to their race,creed,sexual orientation and personal beliefs,we too hold true to these principals. Our most valuable resource is our community,and we look forward to an open dialogue with the City and its residents to create a cooperative that supports the goals of affiliated charities and community organizations dedicated to the support of the individual citizens of this City.Our hope is to combine with the efforts of many existing organizations that support and service this community.We look forward to becoming a contributing partner so that together we can succeed in accomplishing our mutual goals of a stronger,healthier community-a better and more prosperous Palm Springs,CA. As I said in my last correspondence,I hope that we can meet in person so I can explain in length my intentions.If granted the license I will prove over time my ethics are true.I intend to enrich and contribute to your already vibrant city. Please afford me a meeting with you at your convenience so I might introduce myself and answer any of your questions, as well as take any guidance and suggestions you have to offer which I will hold in the deepest regard. I know now how much you put into this effort and want to implement your vision as much as possible. Yours Truly, 0r�Joc � Robert Van Roo Cc Founder PS Safe Access Cooperative,Inc. 2 R .. �C k: _y 505 East Industrial Pic Suite A Palm Springs, /� I c:>- CA 92264 Safe Access760.778.1309 ��� � 9 P� 51 www.psaccess.org Wednesday,February 8, 2012 BU Steve Pougnet CITY C L E?K Mayor of Palm Springs 3200 E.Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs,CA 92262 Dear Mayor Pougnet: First, I would like to congratulate you on your re-election as mayor of Palm Springs.Your service to the City is well documented. My name is Robert Van Roo.I am part of the medical marijuana movement. I have recently relocated to Palm Springs due to numerous requests of previous members of Cannahelp. I have secured the lease of the previously licensed location, remodeled the building with a very modern edge, and have structured the goals and overall agenda of a new non-profit to take the former one's place. I have the hope and intent of gaining both your and the City council's blessings to reopen at this location as Palm Springs Safe Access. The circumstances of Cannahelp were most unfortunate,leaving the City with a scandal and Michael Rice,the owner of the building,with a permanently changed space suited only for the specific use. Both the City and Mr. Rice were attempting to help bring much needed relief to the community. As a member of the movement, I feel personally responsible to rectify this situation. The building located at 505 East Industrial Way went through rigorous construction/retrofitting/ and regulation to qualify for and obtain one of the licenses previously issued in Palm Springs through Ordinance #1768. The building, after all of the changes, is potentially rendered worthless to any other potential renters outside of our use.A scandal the City may be able to weather,but Michael Rice might not ever be able to recover. As a gay male,I know from personal experience the irrefutable benefit Medical Cannabis has had for my community struggling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.As a politician who signed into place a historic ordinance in Palm Springs, #1758, I believe you see the immense benefit medical cannabis can have if regulated.A benefit not limited only to those suffering from illness and pain;but also the City,the State,and someday hopefully the country. Your City has the potential with this ordinance to set a standard for the rest of the country. Fifteen years after prop 215 there are now 16 medical states with many states following suit. Yet few cities have been as progressive in adopting a well-crafted ordinance. I feel we have an opportunity here. This opportunity can only be capitalized on, however, if like-minded people work together.With your advice, I hope we might be able to accomplish this goal. The path will not be an easy one.Nevertheless,I hope you might be willing to guide me and work with me to creating a safe place for our members and allowing us to be open safely in Palm Springs, while mutually benefiting the City with contributions to organizations and new community projects. Our space is available for viewing by you and all City council members. Due to the violations of the guidelines of Ordinance #1758, I presume the former operator's license is no longer available to him. I hope to apply for this license, as it appears to be in limbo, and apparently available. I hope to obtain the license for our operation in the permitted location,and prove to Palm Springs that with pure ethics and compassion the ordinance can work. I hope that we can meet in person so I can explain in depth my intentions. If afforded the license I will prove over time my ethics are true.I intend to enrich and contribute to your already vibrant city.Just by stepping into our lobby, I hope, anyone can tell right from the beginning we are not like others in our field. Please afford me a meeting with you at your earliest convenience so I might introduce myself and answer any of your questions as well as take any guidance and suggestions you have to offer,which I will hold in the deepest regard. Yours Truly, Robert Lawrence Van Roo 11 Cell: (415)694-3754 r1'n1 IGl "May my actions speak louder than my words." T`5<—v-v March 16, 2012 City of Palm Springs Planning and City Council 3200 East Palm Tahquitz Palm Springs, CA Re: Medical Cannabis Permit To: Paul Lewin, Councilmember Dear Mr. Lewin, My name is Michael Rice, and I am the owner of 505 E. Industrial Place, Palm Springs, the former location of Cannahelp, Inc. I have incurred costs and expenses in excess of$211,000.00 in complying with City requirements for the use of my building as a permitted dispensary and growing location for medical marijuana. This has of course, caused great hardship. I brought my building up to the code requirements of the City, modifying the electrical, floor plan, lighting, HVAC, parking lot, landscaping , security and even fire sprinkling the entire building. The building is in full compliance with all applicable ordinances and is the logical location for the 3`d collective. As you are aware I was forced to evict my former tenant due to failure to pay rent, reimburse amortized tenant improvements, allowances and equipment funding. The $211000.00 figure does not include back rent and other related expenses of over $200,000.00 my former tenant failed to pay. I am nonetheless still a strong supporter of the ordinance. This is despite the fact that as a building owner I face additional risks and costs for allowing this use of my building. These costs include increased insurance costs, inability to refinance or obtain new financing on the property (lenders shun properties with this use). There is also a looming threat of federal seizure of my property, implied from the threats that have been made to other building owners in other areas of California, based on a possible inconsistency between current federal and state law on the subject of marijuana. As I have invested so much money to date on this use, my property is now ideal for only one use, Medical Cannabis. Since I am willing to take the additional risk and cost and feel strongly about this cause, I have recently leased the property to one of the former managers of Cannahelp, Alice Jensen. She has formed a new cooperative, named PS Safe Access, along with two experienced partners, with the goal of caring for the patients and members that my former tenant is unable to care for. She is no longer connected in any way with my former tenant. Alice Jensen along with her two partners has invested extensively in remodeling and improving the dispensary area of the property. PS Safe Access looks to be a quality group, and it promises to benefit the City its members and patients. They have worked from the approved plans and have upgraded all flooring, walls, and fixtures. They have been ready to open for two months now yet have been waiting for the City's approval to do so and have attempted on several occasions to apply for the now floating license. I am asking that the City Council allow PS Safe Access to apply for this license. I am sure after further investigation by the City; you will see that this group is the ideal replacement for the Cannahelp disaster. I look forward to bringing this request to vote at your next council meeting. I will be in attendance and am available to answer any questions the council may have regarding my request. I am including a letter of introduction by a principal member of P.S. Safe Access written to the mayor in early February because it quite clearly states his position. Best regards, Michael Rice 158 Desert Lakes Drive Palm Springs, CA (760) 202-4046 �?ALMs'04 iy W V N � <-FaRN% CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT DATE: March 21, 2012 NEW BUSINESS SUBJECT: DISPOSITION OF AVAILABLE PERMIT TO OPERATE A MEDICAL MARIJUANA COLLECTIVE / COOPERATIVE FROM: David H. Ready, City Manager BY: Department of Planning Services SUMMARY On February 6, 2012, the City Manager revoked the medical cannabis regulatory permit for Cannahelp Corporation. On appeal, the City Council upheld the revocation on March 7, 2012. The City Council now has the opportunity to determine whether to award the available permit to a qualified collective or cooperative. At its option, the Council may limit consideration to those applicants which submitted in 2009, invite new applicants to apply for the permit, or decline to re-issue the permit. RECOMMENDATION: Direct staff to solicit updated applications from those 2009 applicants who have indicated an interest in the available permit. STAFF ANALYSIS: Following revocation of the Cannahelp permit, and responding to Council direction of March 7, 2012, staff contacted the nine non-permitted applicants from 2009: - Cannahelp - Desert Valley Patients Collective - Farmacy Collective Association - West Valley Patients Cooperative - Greenway Nature Care Center - Happy Relief Center Collective - CAPS Collective Apothecary - Palm Springs Compassionate Care - Herbal Solutions Staff requested each of the above applicants to notify the City no later than March 20, 2012, of their interest in submitting revised applications for possible award of the available permit. Staff will report at the Council meeting how many of these applicants responded. ITEM NO._J 1� City Council Staff Report March 21, 2012 Medical Cannabis—Choices on award of third medical cannabis regulatory permit Page 2 of 2 Staff anticipates that most or even all of the applicants from 2009 could propose new addresses for their applications, should the Council limit the permit to these prior applicants. If the Council elects to seek new applications, staff recommends establishing a short timeframe within which the City will accept new applications (a thirty-day period was set forth in the original ordinance). If the Council elects to "table" the issue and not award the currently available medical cannabis regulatory permit, the two existing permit holders would continue to provide medical cannabis to their members. FISCAL IMPACT: None C Ig wing, P Thomas Wilson D ctor of PI ni g Service Assistant City Manager David H. Ready, 5OO&KRIer 02