Planning officials approve controversial Fox Den dispensary plan in Santa Rosa near Trail House, Kiwi preschool

Santa Rosa planning commissioners approved a planned cannabis dispensary situated between a bike shop featuring a bar and cafe and a preschool near Howarth Park after more than an hour of public debate among supporters and opponents.

The Planning Commission on Thursday voted 5-0 to approve the Fox Den dispensary’s application to open shop at 4036 Montgomery Drive. The store would be located in a warehouse behind the Trail House bike shop, bar and cafe and bordering Kiwi Preschool & Daycare. It plans to be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, and calls for potential cannabis delivery but not on-site consumption.

Planning commissioners, two of whom were absent, acknowledged concerns about scant parking and the cannabis store’s proximity to children but agreed that the Fox Den proposal checked all the necessary boxes. They gave their approval after dozens of supporters and opponents took turns making their case, two minutes at a time, and a Fox Den representative spoke at length to address concerns about the project.

Don Winkle, an attorney speaking on behalf of Trail House, argued that Fox Den’s opening would amount to “turning the parking lot into a drive-thru for a cannabis dispensary.” The effect would be to “disturb the vibe (and) diminish ?its appeal to locals and tourists alike,” Winkle said, “and because of Trail House’s economic value, this would be detrimental to the public interest.”

“At any day at the Trail House, you’ll find runners, tourists, cyclers, golfers, softball players, hikers,” Winkle said. “And it’s not just the food and beer that brings people in, it’s the culture.”

Numerous other citizens urged the Planning Commission to deny the Fox Den application. Many asserted they weren’t against approving a new cannabis dispensary but thought the location was problematic and would negatively impact Trail House’s business.

The Fox Den project’s parking plans include creating five additional spaces inside the warehouse and would bring the total number of spots on the property to 22.

But many who spoke up Thursday, including Trail House patrons and neighbors, were concerned this would be insufficient to accommodate the combined demands of Trail House, Fox Den and the bike shop’s warehouse traffic.

Representatives and advocates for the Kiwi center also vocally objected to Fox Den. One preschool staffer was concerned the dispensary would attract homeless people who previously lived in a gap between the warehouse and Kiwi’s playground.

Others who spoke up in support of Fox Den pushed back against fears that the dispensary would foster a riskier neighborhood. One man who identified himself as both a parent of a Kiwi student and a friend of Fox Den’s proprietor, Scarlet Ravin, said he had no concerns that Fox Den would bring harm to his son.

Fox Den’s plans call for surveillance cameras and a full-time security guard who would be tasked with deterring on-site cannabis use and checking the space between the warehouse and the playground.

Nick Caston, a representative of the Fox Den project, said he could understand why some who lived and worked in the area would be apprehensive about the new dispensary, which would be the farthest east of all current proposed cannabis shops in Santa Rosa. He also refuted the “drive-thru” characterization, calling the dispensary “a small-scale operation” with less than 1,000 square feet of retail space.

“It’s a perfect fit for what we intended with neighborhood commercial zoning - something that’s not designed to necessarily bring in out-of-town traffic but would definitely be able to serve the community,” Caston said.

Even though Santa Rosa bars cannabis stores from operating within 600 feet near elementary and high schools, there’s no such buffer for preschools, staff told planning commissioners.

Clare Hartman, the city’s deputy planning director, told the commission she couldn’t speculate as to why the city’s cannabis ordinance was written this way. While state law includes a buffer between preschools and cannabis dispensaries, it also allows cities to set their own rules about proximity, as Santa Rosa did when drafting its local cannabis law.

“It wasn’t oversight,” she said. “We deliberately chose to be different and invoke that right.”

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.