Board approves limited portability for evicted medical cannabis dispensaries after narrow vote

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 on Feb. 25 to adopt an ordinance amending the Health Code to let some existing medical cannabis dispensary (MCD) permittees change the location associated with their permit after displacement, subject to detailed conditions and a restriction added as an amendment.

The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Haney and discussed at length in Land Use committee hearings, allows the director of the Department of Public Health to authorize a displaced MCD permittee to relocate their permitted use to a site already zoned and authorized for medical cannabis dispensary use if the director finds the statutory requirements are met. The board approved an amendment inserted during the meeting that bars portability to any site where a court had previously found the landlord wrongfully evicted another permittee.

Supporters framed the measure as a narrow remedy for equity applicants who have been…