Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Doobie Row

After last week's panel discussion on Hillcrest pot shops, San Diego's medical marijuana task force took its recommendations to North Park. In his five-minute presentation, task force vice chair Steven Whitburn's song remained the same as the one he sang a week earlier -- 11 recommendations on how the city should regulate weed emporiums.

The mood from audience members varied from those at the meeting in Hillcrest. During public comment, North Park resident Ed Badrak was the first to take the floor. Pacing the center aisle, Badrak's emotions grew as he grumbled about the dispensaries operating on Adams Avenue, west of 30th Street.

"We have become a dumping ground," said Badrak. "We have more medical marijuana dispensaries now than we have bars and liquor stores. Something is wrong with this picture."

Sponsored
Sponsored

While most of the speakers were in support of medical marijuana, they disagreed with some of the task force recommendations, like the recommendation that dispensaries not be located within 500 feet of one another. Many speakers felt that distance should be more like 1000-1500 feet.

"If this continues, we are going to have to change the name of Antique Row to Doobie Row," quipped Badrak.

"I think 500 feet is completely ridiculous. We can conceivably see one on every block," said another resident of North Park, suggesting there be at least a third of a mile separation.

When it came time for committee comment, planning group members had many of the same concerns. Besides increasing the distance between dispensaries from 500 to 1000 feet, committee members suggested that all dispensaries comply with the regulations by obtaining Conditional Use Permits from the city. They also advocated that smoke-shop storefronts should "reflect the nature of the business" so that shoppers won't wander in to the store unaware of the type of joint it is.

In the end, the North Park planning group unanimously voted, with the exception of Whitburn who abstained from the vote, to accept the recommendations from the medical marijuana task force along with their suggestions, which will be forwarded to the Community Planning Committee meeting on February 23 and then on to the city council's Land Use and Housing Committee on March 24.

Until then, Whitburn and his medical marijuana task force will be presenting their recommendations to community-planning groups citywide.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”

After last week's panel discussion on Hillcrest pot shops, San Diego's medical marijuana task force took its recommendations to North Park. In his five-minute presentation, task force vice chair Steven Whitburn's song remained the same as the one he sang a week earlier -- 11 recommendations on how the city should regulate weed emporiums.

The mood from audience members varied from those at the meeting in Hillcrest. During public comment, North Park resident Ed Badrak was the first to take the floor. Pacing the center aisle, Badrak's emotions grew as he grumbled about the dispensaries operating on Adams Avenue, west of 30th Street.

"We have become a dumping ground," said Badrak. "We have more medical marijuana dispensaries now than we have bars and liquor stores. Something is wrong with this picture."

Sponsored
Sponsored

While most of the speakers were in support of medical marijuana, they disagreed with some of the task force recommendations, like the recommendation that dispensaries not be located within 500 feet of one another. Many speakers felt that distance should be more like 1000-1500 feet.

"If this continues, we are going to have to change the name of Antique Row to Doobie Row," quipped Badrak.

"I think 500 feet is completely ridiculous. We can conceivably see one on every block," said another resident of North Park, suggesting there be at least a third of a mile separation.

When it came time for committee comment, planning group members had many of the same concerns. Besides increasing the distance between dispensaries from 500 to 1000 feet, committee members suggested that all dispensaries comply with the regulations by obtaining Conditional Use Permits from the city. They also advocated that smoke-shop storefronts should "reflect the nature of the business" so that shoppers won't wander in to the store unaware of the type of joint it is.

In the end, the North Park planning group unanimously voted, with the exception of Whitburn who abstained from the vote, to accept the recommendations from the medical marijuana task force along with their suggestions, which will be forwarded to the Community Planning Committee meeting on February 23 and then on to the city council's Land Use and Housing Committee on March 24.

Until then, Whitburn and his medical marijuana task force will be presenting their recommendations to community-planning groups citywide.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Next Article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader