Over the past nine months, the dispensary application portion of the Arizona Medical Marijuana program has been on hold. As early as April 2012, applications will be accepted under certain conditions.
Only landlords with properly zoned locations that are not near schools, churches, public parks, daycare centers and other prohibited areas will be qualified to apply using a dispensary location form provided by Arizona Dispensary Solutions.
Here are some examples of zoning requirements codified by local municipalities:
- City of Phoenix — C-2 (Commercial)
- City of Scottsdale — I-1 (Industrial preferred)
- City of Tucson — C-2 and C-3 (Commercial)
- Pima County — CB-2, CI-1, CI-2 and CI-3 (Commercial and industrial)
- Marana — RC, LI and HI (Commercial & Industrial)
Dispensary licenses are awarded using a health zone known as a CHAA (Community Health Analysis Area). Currently, Arizona has 126 CHAAs, but many of them fall on Native American reservations where dispensaries are not allowed. As for the remaining CHAAs, dispensary operators should be able to show an operating capital of $150,000 per application, as well as upfront rent payments, application fees and consulting fees.
In addition to this, a complete and compliant dispensary application must include patient record-keeping policies, cultivation plans, inventory control processes and systems, patient education materials, security plan and a nonprofit business plan.
The cost of creating an application depends on the amount of work done by the consultative service provider as well as the time frame in which it must be completed. The starting fee for customized applications is $10,000. A successful application will show the dispensary location as a patient-centric wellness center rather than a marijuana shop.
Landlords with a prospective applicant should not only verify the financial stability of their clientele, but also the business plan and materials of the applicant. The next set of DHS rules will eliminate disclosures of bankruptcy and financial delinquency, meaning landlords may have to conduct due diligence.
