Operators and advocates urge flexibility and deadline relief for medical cannabis permits

Medical cannabis operators, patients and disability advocates urged San Francisco officials to allow facilities already in the permitting pipeline to finish their applications and to adopt phased approaches for ADA compliance and other requirements tied to a July 1 deadline.

At the joint meeting, dozens of speakers representing collectives and patient groups described the complexity and cost of meeting new building and accessibility standards on short timelines. "Many of us have been compassionately serving the city for years and have made major investments toward our permitting process," said Shona Gokener, operator of Sanctuary Collective. Patient‑advocate Mira Ingram said dispensaries have been "creative" about accessibility and recommended "equivalent facilitation" and tiered timelines so patients are not left without access.

Speakers including Marv Walpa and Kathy Smith asked the commissions to permit reasonable staging for construction and to allow operators who have shown good faith by a cutoff date to continue. Smith said her collective has preliminary permits but is stalled by a police background/fingerprint sign‑off that the collective reports the Police Department has not completed; she asked the commissions to help clear the administrative blockage.

Planning staff and zoning staffer Larry Badner said applicants who are actively progressing through the process would not be summarily shut down on July 1. Badner noted planning code provisions that allow fee waivers where applicants cannot pay without affecting basic needs and said staff would coordinate with the Board of Supervisors and other departments. DBI and Planning staff described a proposed "conceptual/site" permit path so zoning/planning review can proceed while construction details and disabled‑access addenda are completed later.

No formal vote occurred on the permitting deadlines at the joint session; staff indicated continued interagency work (Board of Supervisors, health, police, DBI, planning) and scheduled further meetings to address ADA and fingerprinting issues raised by operators.

Next steps cited in the meeting included staff coordination with Supervisor offices on deadline rules, continued dialogue about fee waivers or staged compliance, and use of a conceptual permit pathway to allow discretionary review to proceed without forcing premature construction spending.