Medical pot dispensaries closer to development

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Efforts to bring three medical marijuana dispensaries to Incline Village/Crystal Bay continue the march toward reality, though it’s uncertain when the businesses could open.

With five state registration certificates issued, unincorporated Washoe County could also see dispensaries in the Galena/Callahan Ranch area and Sun Valley, should all licenses gain approval.

“These (medical marijuana establishments) received provisional certificates,” said Pam Graber, an information officer with Nevada’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health, Medical Marijuana Program. “Everything left to do is at the local level.”

That means licensing and zoning permitting, Graber said, and as far as those licenses are concerned, the applications have been filed; however, they require approval before the Washoe County Commission.

Prior to Oct. 1, any requested moves by existing dispensaries are to be submitted to the state for approval, said Kevin Schiller, Washoe County’s assistant manager.

“For example, if an Incline facility wished to move locations, they would have to submit the request to the state,” Schiller said. “However, they would also need a provisional zoning letter from us indicating it is an eligible site.”

After Oct. 1, pursuant to legislative changes, the request and approval or disapproval would occur through the Board of County Commissioners, Schiller added.

That means any dispensary operating in Nevada, whether in Washoe County or not, will have to have received all of its state and county licenses and certifications brought before its respective county commission, and its business open and operating on or before April 15, 2016, said Washoe County Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler.

“If the business is not open by that time, its licenses will revert back to the State of Nevada,” Berkbigler said. Nevada legalized the distribution of marijuana for medical purposes in 2013. The state released its rankings of businesses for dispensary licenses in November 2014.

Washoe County is allowed 10 dispensaries: three in Reno, two in Sparks and five in unincorporated areas. Those five proposals include the following:

• Tryke Companies Reno, LLC would develop its dispensary at 10 Stateline Road in Crystal Bay.

• NuLeaf Incline Dispensary, LLC: 877 Tahoe Blvd. in Incline Village.

• Nevada Organix, LLC: 754 Mays Blvd. No. 12 in Incline Village.

• The Clinic Nevada, LLC: 17025 Mt. Rose Highway in the Galena/Callahan Ranch area.

• 5Seat Investments, LLC: 5398 Sun Valley Blvd. in Sun Valley.

Tryke Companies has proposed a separate cultivation facility in Spanish Springs, while three other companies also hope to establish such cultivation facilities in Washoe County: Grow Washoe, LLC would open its facility in Washoe Valley; The Clinic Nevada, LLC in Verdi; and MediFarm II, LLC in Spanish Springs.