Marijuana dispensary permit renewed by county

Maricopa’s medical marijuana dispensary will continue for at least another two years.

Ponderosa Releaf’s renewal of a special-use permit was approved by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors this week. It had received the unanimous recommendation of the county’s Planning & Zoning Commission.

Ponderosa Releaf is one of only two approved dispensaries in Pinal County and the only one operating. It opened in July 2013.

Andy Workman, an owner of Ponderosa Botanical Care (the LLC for Releaf), told the zoning commission earlier the dispensary has served almost 1,200 patients. He said that was about 40 per day.

“We get about 30 new patients a month, which is pretty cool because they come down from the Phoenix area and Casa Grande, and even some up from Oro Valley and Tucson,” he told commissioners.

The business, he said, is “actually quite fun.”

He said Releaf had no compliance issues and has been able to drop prices for its customers.

Ponderosa Releaf is in a business complex on Papago Road south of Maricopa.

“It would perhaps be better if we had [a special-use permit] a little bit longer than two years as it, as it does take us three or four months to go through this process,” Jerry Workman, Andy’s father and CEO of Releaf, said.

While the P&Z Commission recommended approval of the renewal, it also recommended 15 stipulations the company must continue to meet. The approving supervisors agreed.

Among those are the mandates that Releaf keep the property free of litter and meet all the security requirements of the Arizona Department of Health Services. Outdoor seating and off-site delivery are prohibited.

The supervisors’ vote was 4-1.