A Muldoon pot shop clears the park buffer, by measuring to the playground

Another marijuana store could open on Muldoon Road, this one inside Baltazar's Tire Shop, and the Assembly takes it up Tuesday. The wrinkle is the park next door.

Chanshtnu Muldoon Park abuts the property, but the store still meets the city's distance rules because the code measures the buffer to a park's playground equipment, not its boundary, and staff put the nearest playground about 734 feet away. Neighbors don't love it. Two wrote in opposition, noting the children's park, a middle school within walking distance, and a behavioral health clinic across the street. The Northeast Community Council has pushed for buffers wider than the current 1,000 feet around parks and schools, though it took no formal vote against this specific application.

Staff recommend approval with conditions, including overnight closure and a parking plan the site doesn't yet have. The proposal, from Baltazar Arias doing business as Sensimilla, is for a 1,508-square-foot shop. An earlier application for the same site expired in 2024 without a hearing.

The Assembly takes testimony Tuesday, no earlier than 6 p.m. at the Loussac Library.