Aram Stoney has been operating a medical marijuana delivery business out of Carmel Valley for more than a year and he wants to scale up to a dispensary.
“There’s just a need to expand our business and provide our services to more people, and this format with the brick and mortar is definitely a much better way to be able to do that,” he said.
Stoney and his business partner John Defloria own Big Sur Canna Botanicals. It is the only medical cannabis delivery business in county ordinance and could soon become the first dispensary.
Canna Botanicals is located on Carmel Rancho Lane, adjacent to the Barnyard Shopping Center at the mouth of Carmel Valley. Stoney wants to turn the same building into the dispensary and the Monterey County Planning Commission has approved a land use permit for the plan.
Stoney and his partner have been working hard to improve the space, which feels more like an art gallery than a dispensary, with painting and sculptures from local artists decorating the walls.
Under a new county ordinance that allows for dispensaries business owners must show they have the space and can run the business safely.
“They not only met those criteria, but they’re also you know are popular with their neighbors, there was no real opposition, everybody thought this was a great idea, so there was no reason to vote against it,” said Keith Vandevere vice-chair of the planning commission.
Canna Botanicals still needs a cannabis business permit from the county and the business’s attorney, Jennifer Rosenthal, said she filed the paperwork on Tuesday.
Rosenthal said it has been a complicated process, the business permit paperwork was 350 pages and she said there was even more paperwork for the use permit. If the cannabis business permit is approved the dispensary will still need a separate business license from the county.
Stoney is not applying to sell marijuana to recreational users, which is not allowed under county ordinance, he just wants to sell to medical marijuana users.
“There are a lot of people in our area that are older, the baby boomers and older who are really benefiting from the use of medical cannabis,” he said.
Stoney said his clients range in age from kids to 95-years-old, living mostly in Carmel Valley, unincorporated areas of Carmel, and Big Sur.
Some of the marijuana is sourced from growers operating licensed greenhouses in Salinas and the rest comes from Bay Area Producers. The cannabis products coming in all shapes and sizes, from the plant itself, to oils, to mints, to rubs.
The county said so far no there have been zero problems with Big Sur Canna Botanicals but there has been some push back from the community.
Monterey County resident Shay Davidson said she is concerned about the businesses selling marijuana close to Carmel Middle School and The Dance Center in Carmel.
“I just don’t want it to bring in other people who are using harder forms of drugs,” she said.
Davidson is also concerned about the a second medical marijuana dispensary that has applied for a use permit to operate in the same shopping area, closer to the Dance Center.
Synchronicity Holistics has not had a public hearing yet but is expected to go before the county at the end of July.
While, Stoney cannot speak for the other business, he said safety is his first priority, and he does not expect increased crime in the area as a result of his business expanding.
“I welcome anyone that has any concerns to give us a call and of course come and talk about that,” he said.
Big Sur Canna Botanicals plans to have onsite security and cameras both inside and outside of the building.
Because the business is the first in county ordinance it is unclear how long it will take to get through the process and open the dispensary.
Link – KSBW
