The Board of Adjustment split its decisions on four variance requests from the operator of the medical marijuana dispensary in Fountain Hills.

The board met April 16 and denied requests from Mark Steinmetz of Nature’s AZ Medicines, Inc. for a change in the permitted operating hours and to have an ATM machine on the premises.

The board also determined there was no need for a variance to allow the dispensary to offer water and coffee to its clients.

A request for a variance to allow an outdoor seating area adjacent to the dispensary was granted.

Steinmetz told The Times he may appeal in Maricopa County Superior Court the board’s decision regarding operating hours.

The town’s ordinance had set hours in which a dispensary could operate as 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Steinmetz had requested a range from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

He was requesting the adjustment to allow patients with traditional jobs more flexible hours to visit the dispensary, which is located on Enterprise Drive and could be open by June.

A woman told the board she has a medical marijuana card and would be unable to get to the dispensary between the hours allowed by the town. She would need to wait for her husband to get home from work.

The hours in the town’s ordinance are far too restrictive, Steinmetz said. He added that other jurisdictions are allowing much longer hours for dispensary operations.

Town Senior Planner Bob Rodgers said the rules in other jurisdictions are not relevant to whether the request for a variance meets the criteria prescribed by state statute.

During the public hearing process there were several people representing the substance abuse coalition in Fountain Hills.

Dwight Johnson said the coalition works hard to convince teens marijuana is not good for them.

“With extended hours to a time teens are out of school, they will be tempted to purchase marijuana from cardholders,” Johnson said.

Maria Perreault said that teens are led to believe marijuana is not harmful and with greater availability there is greater chance it will get into the hands of youths.

Board Chairman Paul Ryan stated prior to the hearing that the board had no jurisdiction related to the medical marijuana law and urged speakers to keep their comments relevant to the zoning variance criteria.

Ryan ultimately asked coalition members to keep to the subject at hand on three occasions.

Susan Goodwin, an attorney representing the board, said the town’s regulations concerning hours comply with the state medical marijuana statute.

Goodwin said it is the burden of the applicant to prove that they meet the criteria for a variance.

Board Vice-Chair Carol Perica said she does not believe the applicant meets any of the four criteria and moved to deny the variance request on operating hours. The vote was 5-0 to deny the request.

Other issues

There was a relatively brief discussion related to the request to allow an ATM.

Doug Hebert, a member of the coalition and retired DEA agent, said the reason the ATM machine was requested is that banks will not deal with marijuana dispensaries and allow them to accept credit or debit cards, which makes them a strictly cash business.

The town ordinance states there cannot be more than $200 left overnight at the dispensary.

Ryan said it would not be likely that there would be less than $200 in an ATM machine, and moved that the request did not meet the criteria for a variance.

That vote to deny was also unanimous.

The board did vote to allow an outdoor seating area adjacent to the dispensary site to remain.

The outdoor area has been on the premises for years and is used by other tenants in the building complex.

Both the town and Steinmetz agreed that the area should not be used by dispensary clients. Steinmetz agreed to use video surveillance of the area and post it with signs telling dispensary patients not to use the area.

Board member Nick Sehman inquired why Steinmetz asked for the variance if he was able to agree with the town on how to handle it. Steinmetz said he did it at the request of the landlord who wanted to be confident the seating area could remain.

The board determined that request met all four criteria for a variance and voted to grant it.

Steinmetz said he expects to be ready to open the dispensary, which is located at Enterprise and Colony drives, around the first of June.