The Mira Mesa Community Planning Group heard from representatives of 15 hopeful marijuana production facilities applying for conditional use permits to set up shop in the neighborhood.
Marijuana production facilities are different than retail dispensaries where people and patients go to buy marijuana and other infused items.
They're a step before dispensaries in the supply chain. Workers raise, harvest, process and package products before sending them off to local pot shops.
Mira Mesa has the most applicants for this type of permit in the entire city of San Diego partly because it has so many industrial zones, the only zones these facilities can go.
Non-marijuana related business owners in the area voiced their concerns at the Thursday meeting over issues like increased traffic and obnoxious production odor. They are also concerned about potential crime, wary of the fact that most marijuana businesses deal almost exclusively in cash.
"To conduct business, how are they going to pay for things?" one critic said. "They can't write a check, they can't charge it on a credit card, they have to use cash."
Nearby residents also had a chance to voice their opinions.
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Facility representatives say crime attraction is unlikely, given that they aren't involved in single-buyer transactions and their facilities aren't marked with any signage. in fact, advertising for these facilities is prohibited by law.
More than 20 permit applications have been submitted for facilities in Mira Mesa, which is more than half of the city's 40-facility cap.
Otay Mesa has the second most permit applicants at 14.
No action was taken Thursday beyond the planning group hearing feedback from local residents and business owners.
A vote for approval or denial will take place at a future meeting, but any decision made by the planning group is merely an opinion to be considered by decision-makers further down the line.
