Fairfax city officials are assessing the impact of relocating the city’s oldest cannabis dispensary.

The City Council directed staff at a meeting Wednesday to provide more information about the effects of the area and allow changes for the Marin Medical Marijuana Alliance.

The business, which has been operating since 1997, is licensed as a medical marijuana store and recreational delivery service in a suite at 6 School St.

The report is expected to go before the City Council in December.

A petition by owner Lynnette Shaw, filed with the council on Sept. 24, is seeking to amend the business’s conditional use permit and the city’s zoning code to move. She said the owner plans to sell the property. The business, which has a permit that applies only to its current location, has until Dec. 31 to vacate.

“I’m just here to ask for cooperation in the name of compassion,” she said.

The city prohibits cannabis storefronts, except in specially designated zoning districts.

To move, the company must apply for new commercial cannabis business permits, with a specific location designated, as well as site and construction plans. A site was not identified.

If the application is approved during a preliminary review, it will be evaluated by the Planning Commission for preliminary scoring and possible recommendation to the City Council. The board will make a final decision.

Attorney Janet Coleson said the report will outline the impact of the zoning changes and the process of moving the cannabis dispensary to another location.

“That’s not our rule, that’s state law,” she said.

“I would really like to see this business stay in Fairfax,” Councilwoman Lisel Blash said.

Larry Bragman, an attorney representing the dispensary, drafted a letter to the board that Shaw read. In it, Bragman called for an expedited process to protect the health of medical users.

“This is a very complex and laborious process from which the alliance has been exempted as a legacy business,” the letter said.

Councilman Bruce Ackerman said cannabis businesses interested in relocating could avoid the lengthy application process when requesting a simple change of location.

“We would like to make it work. That’s the question, how to make it work, how to speed it up,” Ackerman said.

Mayor Barbara Coler said her support leans more toward the medical storefront aspect of the business than recreational delivery.

“I would like to see that we can go down this path. I hear a lot of support for medical cannabis dispensaries,” she said.

The City Council passed an ordinance in August 2020 allowing two retail marijuana businesses to operate in the city.

Fairfax’s cannabis regulations allow medical marijuana storefronts and recreational cannabis delivery services, or businesses that combine the two. Dispensaries without delay cannot be located less than 600 meters from schools or 300 meters from kindergartens, day care centers or guidance enterprises. Delivery services must be at least 250 meters from schools and other youth centres.