Neighbors Protest Weed Shop on Kid Friendly Block
by Larry Janezich
Posted July 15, 2025
Blue placards in the window announce the application for a medical marijuana license for Proper Exotic at 313 8th Street, NE. The location is in a mixed residential/commercial block.
Here’s the view to the north, across the alley from 313 8th.
Directly across the street is the Boneval, a 40 unit condo building.
Neighbors Protest Weed Shop on Kid Friendly Block
by Larry Janezich
Posted July 15, 2025
ANC6A’s July meeting last Thursday night became contentious during consideration of an application for a medical marijuana license for Proper Exotic Dispensary at 313 8th Street, NE.
Proper Exotic originally applied for a license last year and ANC6A voted to protest the application. One of the Proper Exotic partners unilaterally withdrew the application. Subsequently, the other partner retained legal counsel McGowan and Kinner to reinstate the application. The Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) agreed to the appeal which initiated a new opportunity for ANC6A (and ANC6C as an affected party) to protest again.
Community members in attendance at the on-line meeting were overwhelmingly opposed to a medical marijuana dispensary coming to the location. Although the building is zoned for mixed use, it is in close proximity to residences and a day care center and close proximity to other venues providing services for children.
A few residents voiced support for the owner saying effectively that under the law opening a dispensary in a properly zoned location was a matter of right.
Several neighbors expressed concerns over safety issues, with some saying the dispensary will be a target for a potential robbery and that it will become a focus for a gathering of users who will consume cannabis products nearby which the business will be unable to regulate.
Meredith Kinner of Kinner & McGowan suggested because ABCA security requirements for the business, Proper Exotic “will probably enhance the security of the neighborhood rather than detract,” and given the risks presented by a 7-11 which was formerly nearby, a dispensary is “5000% safer and more secure….”
ANC6C Commissioner Jay Adelstein who represents a Single Member District in ANC6C which is across the street from 313 8th Street, added his voice to those of the opponents, adding that ANC6C had voted to protest the application earlier in the week.
ANC6A Commissioner Roberta Shapiro, speaking for temporarily-absent Commissioner Amber Gove, said that proximity to a day care center is not grounds for issuing a license, but is grounds for protesting the application. Kinner said flatly, “That is not correct,” and later offered a link in the chat to support her claim.
Summing up before the vote, legal counsel John McGowan said their goal was to work with the ANC to get a Settlement Agreement to satisfy concerns of the community. The alternative, he said, was to go to protest and if the ANC loses, there will be no Settlement Agreement and the dispensary will open without one. He said he hoped to continue negotiations with the ANC.
The ANC subsequently voted to protest the application by a unanimous vote of 7-0.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 