Over school district, parents’ objections, Santa Cruz City Council allows Westside dispensary by 6-1 vote

Following months of community tension that even pulled state legislators into the fray, the Santa Cruz City Council decided Tuesday evening that a new cannabis dispensary could move into the old Emily’s Bakery lot at the intersection of Mission and Laurel streets, against the loud and organized objection of school district officials and parents. 

The 6-1 vote, with Vice Mayor Renée Golder dissenting, allows locally owned retail cannabis company The Hook Outlet to continue transitioning the old bakery into a dispensary, which will be set up as a partnership with WAMM Phyotherapies, formerly known as the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, to serve its members free or low-cost medicinal cannabis. 

The dispensary proposal caused an uproar from the Santa Cruz City Schools district community, as it will sit about 850 feet from Santa Cruz High School and 1,350 feet from Mission Hill Middle School. Parents and school administrators have argued that the placement was too close, especially as the district struggles to address mental health and drug use issues at both campuses. 

The city’s own rules only explicitly prohibit dispensaries within 600 feet of school campuses, which meant the dispensary proposal didn’t trigger any red flags until the Hook Outlet owner, Bryce Berryessa, had to go before the city’s planning commission seeking a change-of-use permit. The planning commission approval was appealed to the city council, which retained some discretion to determine whether the dispensary would cause more harm than good. 

However, the debate drew an outpouring of support from supporters of WAMM, including state Sen. John Laird, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin and a roster of former local politicos. Over the past 33 years, the locally based WAMM has supplied sick and dying patients with medical cannabis, a mission that put its founder, Valerie Corral, on the front lines of the fight to legalize medical cannabis. However, Corral said WAMM’s finances had been decimated by the recreational cannabis industry and that its future was dire. She said the partnership with The Hook Outlet was critical to stabilizing the future of WAMM and that a denial could be crippling. 

Debra Feldstein, one of the parents who led the opposition, said the debate was not about the merits of medical cannabis but the lives of local children. 

“This is about our children and this is about their safety,” Feldstein said. “Why make a decision that would put even one more child at increased risk?”

One longtime, disabled patient of WAMM, who did not identify herself, said being able to pick up her medicine on the Westside would make her life much easier. 

“Thank God for this woman,” she said, pointing to Corral. “It’s very difficult for me to make it out to [WAMM’s other pick-up location in] Soquel to pick up my meds. This would be so helpful.” 

Across more than three hours of public comment, an overwhelming majority of the speakers fell on the side of supporting the dispensary. The comments often sounded like a relitigation of the legalization of cannabis, touching on the merits of medical cannabis, the impact of cannabis on developing brains, the growing mental health crisis among youth and comparisons between alcohol and cannabis regulations. 

Another theme was the community standing of Corral, considered by many a local hero for her work over the past three decades, particularly during the HIV/AIDS crisis. 

However, the central issue before the city council was about location: whether a dispensary’s proximity to a school had any impact on use by students, and whether this dispensary would increase access. This is where the fog of debate drew in, as therapists, lawyers, doctors, parents and teachers on each side of the debate cited studies that backed up their side. 

“We’ve heard a lot of evidence tonight, and they contradict each other,” Westside City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson said about the studies cited around proximity. “That’s not because one side is trying to misuse evidence, it’s because there is a lot of contradictory evidence out there.” 

Kalantari-Johnson’s own stance displayed those contradictions, as she ping-ponged back and forth in her rhetoric – evincing, she said, her struggle over the past several weeks to make up her mind. She said she did not like the location, and would press for a broader law change to increase the buffer around schools. However, she ultimately voted to support the dispensary. 

Mayor Fred Keeley, who said he was willing to listen to the evidence and the experts, said he had repeatedly asked the school district to present studies or clear proof that a dispensary’s proximity to schools had an impact on youth use, but that the school district failed to do so. 

“The plural of anecdotes is not evidence; evidence is evidence,” Keeley said. “And there’s not been one study or report submitted to us that says … there is evidence that [students are] accessing cannabis through dispensaries in any significant number. I have not been shown that.” 

In an emailed statement, Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Kris Munro said the school district, in its objections to the dispensary, was only trying to “advocate for the safety of our students.” 

“I am sorry this matter has proven so contentious, and I regret any time circumstances seem to pit interests against each other,” Munro wrote. “Going forward, we will keep advocating for student safety and giving voice in the community to the issues they face.” 

Hook Outlet owner Berryessa said he was excited this chapter, which he likened to litigation, was over. 

“We can now work on the next difficult chapter of getting the business open and serving the community,” Berryessa told Lookout. “I’m really grateful that we get to help continue the legacy of WAMM.” 

Corral said she never doubted the city council would find a way to approve the dispensary. 

“The city council standing in the way of us being able to open would have been catastrophic for our members,” Corral said. “We don’t have to worry about that anymore. We can serve people, which is all we want to do.”

FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to correctly reference WAMM Phytotherapies by its official name.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.