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Applicant outlines community outreach for marijuana retail license M35490; committee to review saturation maps
Summary
Applicant Jana Waldstein described multi‑year community engagement and a close Northeast Community Council process for marijuana license M35490; the committee asked staff to prepare GIS maps of existing license locations to assess geographic equity and potential limits on new shops.
The committee received a voluntary presentation July 9 from applicant Jana Waldstein about marijuana retail license M35490 and the applicant’s community engagement history.
Waldstein said the application process included five community‑council meetings and two additional meetings beginning in 2023, multiple straw votes, and an MOU that was later revised when a management partner withdrew. She described a close vote in which in‑room and Zoom ballots were tallied and said the vote swing was affected by discrepancies in how in‑person and Zoom votes were validated. "In the room there was 34 people in favor and 34 people with votes... the Zoom votes... tipped it over and tipped it over in the negative," she said, describing the council record.
On site‑distance questions, Waldstein said ACDA/administration staff verified setbacks and submitted a survey showing the property line is more than 200 feet from a nearby park and a 733‑foot pedestrian route; she said the application therefore meets code distance requirements. Committee members raised broader neighborhood concerns that parts of Anchorage may be saturated with marijuana retailers and requested staff provide a GIS map showing existing licensed shop locations to assess geographic equity and concentration.
Why it matters: the committee said that where licenses cluster has equity implications and that the Assembly could consider code changes or limits if saturation is concentrated in certain neighborhoods. Waldstein argued her team conducted repeated outreach and produced a 20‑page community engagement report detailing multiple meetings.
The committee did not vote on the application at the meeting; staff were asked to provide the requested GIS mapping and to include the license on a future agenda with any additional materials necessary for formal consideration.
