Population compared to other area of the city and also an area where the issue of drug use poses a major problem. Our efforts tell others of other parts of the city such as chinatown and the sunset where permits have been denied or entirely outlawed. The children that i work with regularly find themselves in the presence of open air drug use and going to school or walking in the neighborhoods and many dont feel safe and even in large groups with adult supervision. When new businesses are introduced, they should not be ones that will make a Community Issue already known even worse. Next speaker. I lived and worked in the tenderloin for 12 years and work with a nonprofit in the 300 block of ellis. I dont want to take the time to repeat what everyone said. I want to express my opposition and i dont think we need a cannabis december pencery in the tenderloin dispensary and there is enough on the edges that people with use and urban farm and different ones on the edges of the tenderloin. I want to express opposition we dont need another Cannabis Store in the tenderloin. Thank you. Next speaker. Good evening. I live in the tenderloin and opposed to another Cannabis Store coming from me raising three children and i am also a Youth Coordinator and i have seen kids that grow from watch them fwrou from year old to 15 and we miss them after that going to starting with using marijuana and using drugs and sell drugs and going to the the juvenile home and going through this route and having another Cannabis Store that is legal to raise more problem and to legalize and be in the store doesnt mean that will lose illegal sales on the street. That is cheaper. It is not the solution. The solution is to see the drug dealers and that business is not going to go away by adding more cannabis or legalize. And the store over there is more valuable to our community as it is as a grocery and convenience for everyone to buy milk or buy bread. And repeated again that we are a community of lot of families and with kids. And so that is my comment. And i still oppose 100 of this. Thanks. Thank you. Any other Public Comment in support of the d. R. Requester . Okay. We will now hear from the project sponsor. President melgar and members of the planning commission, i am teaming up with the equity applicant for the proposed project on 50 o jones. And a little background on myself is in order. My father hash running the store since the late 1970s shortly after he came to america. He worked 14, 15, sometimes 16 hours a day to afford my sister and i a better life. Our neighbors know me by name and are quick to say how much i look like my dad. Due to my fathers hard work, i was the first person in nigh family to graduate college, u. C. Davis, class of 2006. And the project has something has been something that we are very passionate about. The good that the Marijuana Dispensary can do far exceeds that of a liquor store. To date they have a dispensary to call their own and the tax rate far exceeds anything i will be playing and i have linked up with the antihomeless campaign with the mural project and hope to combat homelessness and i have the physical hard copies to reference and emailed them to mr. Christianson. And all i can say is that i have called, emailed, sent out Community Letters and i still to this day have not received any single attempt of communication via any medium. No one from the church reached out email, text, or phone to receive any information given at the meeting. A copy of the community leter is also here in the hard copy as well as the signin sheet. I spoke with a representative of the church on september 16, 2019 at 4 30 p. M. For roughly 20 minutes and the only response i got during that conversation is lets see how the d. R. Plays out. Should you i a prove this corner project, we will have 24 hour Video Surveillance monitoring as well as flood lighting that will illuminate both corners of the store, a Security Guard unharmed will be placed outside to check i. D. S and maintain the surrounding area. A p. O. S. System that links the customers toid the purchase will also be placed to eliminate underage use and as well as comply with state mandated metric laws and daily limits. Despite the references about potential on site consumption, we did not apply for a permit and i will never do that out of respect for my neighbors. Thank you for your time. Good evening, members of the commission. I was going to say afternoon, but we have gone a little far. I am justin gray, born and raised native of the city. I am the cannabis equity applicant for infinty wellness. First i would like to say that i believe this is our last hurdle to overcome to pursue a dream. Cannabis until recently has been seen in a negative light, but we believe wholeheartedly this is a medicine with many uses and we would like to educate the community about them. There will be no onsite consumption and we will brighten the neighborhood with lighting and provide 24hour video monitoring. And we want to give the neighbors an affordable accessible medicine as well as give back to the community, the community we all know can use improvement. And the last two years have been a roller coaster ride but we have followed the citys rules to the letter and are ready to cross that line. In closing, i would like to thank the commission for their time and consideration, the people that showed up to support us and the surrounding people and businesses that have written letters of recommendation. Again, there will over in be any onsite consumption. Thank you for your time. You still have 57 more seconds. So okay. That is fine. And we will now take any Public Comment in support of the project sponsor. If you are here to support the project sponsor, come on up. Hello, commissioners. I am amos and i am the founder and director of the veterans alley mural project incorporated. Organizations created in 2011 buy myself and a fellow veteran who was unhoused at the time. The project was created to allow veterans to paint the stories of the murals on the wall running geary to ofarrell and our project is half a block away from the dispensary and as a reference 25 feet from the church. Our work focuses on providing the therapeutic outlets that those in the military and past have experienced trauma and some of the most vulnerable residents. Over the years we have grown the organization to become a valuable resource for much of the entire community both housed, unhosed, veteran and nonveteran. We have transformed shannon to into a communitybased art gallery. It tells the story of the neighborhood and serves as a safe space. This is a safe space right next to the church for young people, senior, housed and unhoused residents. We run a Community Flea market in shannon alley and hold three block parties. The organization believes that this dispensary would be a beneficial addition to the tenderloin with its own unique identity. And with the passing of prop 64 in 2018, dispensaries 2016, dispensaries have become readily accessible with many parts of San Francisco. There are dispensaries within the mission, south of market, sunset, and castro districts which are well out of the reach for many tenderloin residents who treat symptoms and residents many of whom are physically challenged are forced to commute to other communities for the vital and basic resource to alleviate pain. Having a resource which is within reasonable distance would eliminate this frustration faced by community members. As an organization we have always advocated for the medicinal use for disabled u. S. Military veterans. As a community, we veteran face the challenges of high suicide rates, overprescription of antisigh t coic, opioid a antipsychotics and presently there are 45 unhoused vetter rarns at the winton hotel at 4405 who face these challenges every day. A dispensary within reasonable distance will be greatly beneficial to their well being. The dispensary at this location will have a calming effect on the street traffic because they are required to adhere to strict security regulations to provide outdoor security personnel there to enshoo you are that cannabis is not consumed in the vicinity and provide a positive application. Your time is up. Im done . Thanks. Sorry about that. Next speaker please. Good evening, commissioners. Our mission is to end the crisis conditions of street homelessness but developing spaces of belonging, shared agreements and stewardship. We have spent hundred of hours in the tenderloin over the past year organizing the pilot of a safe, organized space in San Francisco and i am here to support the requested change of use to Cannabis Retail at 50 o jones. Sfhc advocates that informed and accessible access to cannabis as well as Job Opportunities should be a strategic part of the solution to address the Public Health, safety and economic crisis of meth, heroin, around fentanyl sales and use. Living without access is a constant stressor on the body and psyche and a large portion of homeless use drugs as a coping mechanism. But substances such as meth, opioids, fentanyl, benzos, and alcohol can cause Severe Damage to the body and potential fatalities. Cannabis, on the other hand, can provide targeted relief for a stress nervous system without the fear of a fatal overdose. It has a growing body of treating pain, ptsd, opioid and meth addiction and some of that research is from our and we are excited to work with the thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker please. Good evening, commissioners, president melgar. I am a Public Health professional, born and raised in San Francisco and from a medical research and i am here representing myself. I have knowned justin to be committed to serving his friend and community for most of our lives. And as i mentioned earlier in this hearing, i am committed to seeing more equity in the space of Cannabis Retail and the cannabis markets. I have a relative in the tenderloin near where this space will be. And my relative has signed on in support of the project and wants accessible cannabis near her home. She felt anxious about speaking in public and therefore chose not to be here this evening. I am familiar that alcohol retail increases the likelihood of Public Safety concerns. There is an increase in violence and the likelihood for other dangers to Public Safety with alcohol retail and that same research doesnt exist for Cannabis Retail. What we do know with the lack of research is when you place a Security Guard in front of a business, it is highly likely there will be a reduction in the amount of illegal activity that happens on the street. Dispensaries, therefore, reduce Public Safety concerns on the street when there is somebody working in a security role on the street with eyes on the business and as a result, it is likely there will be a reduction. I hear the concerns. I have concerns about safety in the tenderloin not just for my relative that live there is but also with the understanding that there is an increased there is a huge number of children that live in the community. I would like to invite folks with fears object what a Cannabis Retail means to visit retail sites and get a look t a who is there with what goes on inside and out front and you may have the fears allayed. The federal government does see it as a schedule one drug, but our state and city does not. It is not the same as heroin and crack or meth. It wont bring the same types of problems. Thank you. Thank you. Any other Public Comment in support of the project sponsor . Good evening, everyone. I have known justin gray since we were 15. I am in support of it and i have been living in the tenderloin for six years and heard the arguments opened to it and the concern about the children and the safety and it is a rough neighborhood. However, i believe that it would be a good asset to the community and it is already slowly changing in the last six years and with the Grocery Stores and low Income Housing being built over the the area and they didnt talk about it, but doing a delivering service through vehicles. I am a home care provider, so i believe that it would be good for that because i serve as San Francisco people who have medical issues from ptsz to physical impairments. And a lot of them do use Medicinal Marijuana to help with their issues. I think it would be nice to see in that area and there is added security and there is a bar on jones that has a Security Guard and i dont believe there is a high crime from people smoking weed to going to bar and drinking and going outside with a drunken brawl with somebody. That is all. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and president , i am a tenderloin tenant. And i used to work in the tenderloin. I am frederick beasley. I am a supporter of this because i have Rheumatoid Arthritis in my knees and my hands. Walking sometimes is pretty hard. When i used to be in the neighborhood this, would be great if there was a dispensary to get the meds, go home, and get this and i have never been in a situation where i had to go, oh, this isnt going to work. I used to be an addict and pill popper and medical marijuana changed my life. It helped me. I am in support of it because in the neighborhoods where you have to go out and if you have bad feet, bad knees, bad back, in a wheelchair and somebody is pushing you, i would feel safe to get the marijuana and go home, but that is all i got to say about that. I feel that to community will benefit from the area and bright area, less traffic for black market sales and a lot of people will be comfortable seeing a security figure in the neighborhood standing up for the community. Thank you if any other Public Comment in support of the project sponsor . D. R. Requester, you get a twominute rebuttal. The reading that was pulled from the project sponsor was on sunday at 10 00. We couldnt attend because we were at church. He said in his conversation with me that he thought that church was closed so he didnt come to introduce this proposed change of use and i feel and one individual in that storement cos to our church occasionally so he must have known the church is open and functioning and we are here right next door. But no effort was made from that side and that point of view. I dont know what else to say other than it is just not the right location and we have nothing against the illegalized use of marijuana and you just approved a location elsewhere in the main traffic corridor on mission, but right there on that corner i have seen so many individuals trying to keep a grip on reality and staring in the gutter for half an hour because they dont know where they are and what they are doing. And lying in the middle of intersection. And trying to figure out what it is that is happening to them. We had a stabbing not too far from our church and we saved the persons life because one of our members called 911 right away. The gentleman was saved and came to church and thank you for our quick action. We have had attacks on the custodian. It is not the right location for cannabis. Thank you. Project sponsor, you have a two minute rebuttal. Good evening. I am the land use attorney and here on behalf of the Building Permit applicant and it is getting late and we are last and i will keep this brief. As stated in the staff report and the d. R. Is a general opposition to the use itself and this is principally permitted. There is no evidence of the required exceptional or extraordinary. It was not raised in the d. R. Request, but it was raised in the speaking, but nothing to dao with Design Standards and just about the use and general status of the tenderloin. That relates to the other testimony is use related. And they have done things the right way and this Building Permit for minor t. I. Work is all they are seeking. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Commission Follow staffs recommendation and to not take d. R. And approve the project as proposed. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioners. Commissioner koppel. There is a cannabis dispensary that ep opened near my house and highly opposed, very contentious hearing and it opened. Space has been open for a couple of months. It is an asset to the neighborhood. There is security on the sidewalk. There is no crime. There is no violence. There is no car accidents. They check i. D. S. They are not targeting kids. There is not going to be more problems in this project is granted. Theres going to be less problems. The people you see on the streets are on other drugs and other hard substances. I am having a hardtime with the layout of that neighborhood and i know what its like. I would want to see more filled store fronts and more Security Guards and more businesses with Exterior Lighting especially this one that is on a corner. 16 tax revenue. 15 , 16 tax revenue, legal businesses. Formula retails are leaving the city. We have to get our businesses the ability to stay in business. And adapt to what we are doing now as opposed to what we are doing yesterday. I dont have a problem with this project whatsoever. It is principally permit and code compliant. If anything, if we dont approve this, we are denying people relief. Commissioner moore. I think there is enough support from the community and i am inclined to support it and making a motion to approve. Second. Not take d. R. Commissioner fung. A they indicated that they would not consume on site. Can we condition that . That means we would have to take d. R. To create the condition. Yes, you would need to take d. R. To impose that conditio