Cotati retail complex to target shoppers with a mix of pizza and weed

A new retail strip center on the westside of Cotati will offer up the pairing of many college students’ ultimate dream: pizza and weed.

But beyond the snicker, the project is a reflection of the changing nature of retail in a post-pandemic world amid changes in consumer preferences and local resistance against cannabis.

The Jane Dispensary opened last month at 8145 Gravenstein Highway in a refurbished complex that once housed Red's Recovery Room, a dive bar that was referenced in a Tom Waits song. Jane is owned by local investors that include Mario Tamo, a group that already operates a Santa Rosa location and another outlet in the St. Louis area.

The store is the latest in a local arms race of opening new cannabis retail outlets. It follows the opening of Solful in east Santa Rosa and Sparc in Sonoma. Industry representatives contend California is lacking in the number of dispensaries compared to overall demand in some parts due to recalcitrance by local officials, including some in Napa and Marin counties.

The new Jane dispensary adds to the mix with lots of natural light peeking through windows, a large mural on one wall and numerous display cases featuring everything from flower to tinctures. This space is definitely not the old dingy head shop from years ago.

Leigh Anne Baker, Jane CEO, said much of the focus has been spent on training staff, especially for those who are venturing into cannabis products for the first time, customers known as “canna-curious.”

“We just have an elevated experience … It feels very safe, it feels very warm,” Baker said. “We spend a lot of time training our employees and our cannabis consultants to really know each product. We are focused on getting local (products) as much as we can.”

Jane will have a new neighbor in the spring as Acre Pizza will open up its third location just to the east. The restaurant features premium pies with locally sourced ingredients and has proven to be popular.

It opened its first location in The Barlow in Sebastopol in early 2020, which serves the local taprooms in the shopping complex. Owner Steve Decosse said the new site could also be equally popular with cannabis consumers, too.

“I just feel it can be a dynamic location,” said Decosse, who noted that the Cotati location should attract many lunch customers who pass along the highly trafficked roadway.

In addition, the abundance of thousands of students at nearby Sonoma State University also adds to the possibility of many delivery orders through third-party vendors, Decosse added.

“I think Fridays and Saturdays are going to be like crazy,” he added.

The final part of the project will be a proposal by Jane to allow on-site cannabis consumption to the west of its location, which would have to go through approval by the city of Cotati, Mayor Mark Landman said.

Jane would be the first on-site consumption place in Sonoma County. Plantshop in Ukiah has such an on-site option in Mendocino County as leaders there have put a sharp focus on promoting cannabis tourism to boost the local economy.

“I think bringing all of that together by having pizza and the dispensary and the consumption, where we can have music and community events and all of that. Again, we're just trying so hard to just shed the stigma of cannabis,” Baker said.

The project was boosted by the support of developer Steve Monahan as Jane is his first cannabis tenant.

“I think the tide is turning,” Monahan said of acceptance of cannabis dispensaries, which have typically been placed away from residential neighborhoods to areas such as industrial parks.

To be sure, there is still resistance locally as Jane has filed an application at 4040 Highway 12 in east Santa Rosa for a second location in the city, which has more than a dozen licensed dispensaries.

The City Council on Dec. 6 is slated to hear an appeal of Jane’s application, which had been approved by the Planning Commission. Opponents challenge that such issues as neighborhood compatibility and traffic were not properly considered.

Monahan serves as vice president of Monahan Pacific Corp. of San Rafael, which has a proposal for its Cotati Village project near the Jane and Acre Pizza space. The plan, which is pending before the city, calls for 177 residential units with some commercial units along Alder Avenue and Highway 116.

“That’s going to be a nice little commercial hub for West Cotati,” Monahan said.

Landman said he agrees that stigma against cannabis dispensaries is fading, specifically noting how Mercy Wellness has been a good community neighbor.

Mercy was the first dispensary to open in Cotati in 2010, and the questions and objections related to the dispensary have proved to be unfounded, he said.

“That’s a well-run tight ship,” Landman said of Mercy Wellness.