Board Authorizes Cannabis Dispensary Northwest Of Elsinore

RIVERSIDE, CA — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday granted permits for the establishment of a cannabis dispensary just northwest of Lake Elsinore, despite opposition from members of the community fearful that it will increase crime, draw unwanted attention and add to traffic woes.

"If you fail to protect the residents located behind you from your clients or those who want to hang around, I will personally lead an effort to correct deficiencies in your operation," Supervisor Kevin Jeffries told the proprietor of Empire Connect. "You're going to have a higher bar to live up to in order to satisfy your neighbors."

Empire Connect's conditional use permit and development agreement with the county to open near the intersection of Macy Street and Grand Avenue was approved 5-0. It is the first cannabis shop to be authorized by the board in the unincorporated area of southwest Riverside County.

Two other marijuana stores have been approved by the board, but both are in the unincorporated community of Highgrove, bordering Riverside.

"Hundreds of neighbors are enraged by the prospect of this," Lakeshore Village resident Rick Hatfield told the board. "This is inappropriate in a residential neighborhood. It's in close proximity to a public high school and private Christian school. Children frequent the location."

He and two other Lakeshore Village residents noted that a bus stop is literally within a couple hundred feet of where the shop will be set up.

Empire Connect intends to operate a 4,500-square-foot distribution outlet between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily. A mobile marijuana delivery service will be a component of the operation, as well.

The applicant has promised to make improvements to the one-acre site where the building is located, adding parking spaces and removing blight, as well as paying for an expansion of Grand Avenue to facilitate increased traffic volume, according to the county Transportation & Land Management Agency.

"We will do our best to go above and beyond conditional use requirements," Empire Connect owner Christopher Henry told the board. "We have an obligation to protect our neighbors from our customers or anybody else who may be hanging around."

The neighboring city of Lake Elsinore has spots specifically zoned for prospective cannabis operations, confined to light industrial areas. There are residences less than a quarter-mile from where the Empire Connect store will be situated.

"You selected a highly controversial location since that is where a black market (marijuana) facility was," said Jeffries, who lives about three miles from where the dispensary will be. "I watched what was going on there. It was a disastrous operation. I am not going to allow that to happen again, using whatever power there is in my control."

All opponents noted that the store will cause traffic to stack up in an already-clogged gateway to the southwest county region -- Highway 74 and Grand Avenue. However, Henry said an attendant and security guards will be on hand, full-time, to keep vehicles coming and going from the parking lot without disrupting the normal traffic flow.

"The existing site has already been utilized for ongoing retail and commercial uses," according to a TLMA statement posted to the board's agenda. "The proposed ... cannabis retail store would provide community services and job opportunities within the surrounding community."

Opponents to the other outlets approved by the board cited potential increases in crime, particularly robberies, and undesirable clients entering the community to transact business as major concerns.

The county's 2018 Marijuana Comprehensive Regulatory Framework provides for the steps that prospective businesses must take to be eligible for permits. Safety and health safeguards are part of the regulatory stipulations.

The county stands to collect about $235,000 up front from Empire Connect, covering the cost of business permits and "public benefits payments" that are intended to pay for additional law enforcement and other public safety demands that might arise from the store's operations.

An ongoing annual public benefit payment totaling $100,500 will also be required.

— City News Service