Assembly approves Muldoon Road marijuana store 8-3 over buffer objections

The Anchorage Assembly approved a Muldoon Road marijuana store 8-3 Tuesday, over objections that the planning department misread the playground buffer and that a stricter state buffer applies. Baltazar Holdings LLC must still pass municipal inspections before Sensimilla can open at 1431 Muldoon Road.

Assembly member Yarrow Silvers said municipal code requires measuring 500 feet to the edge of a playground, including abutting parking lots, and that the site falls short. Current Planning manager Elizabeth Appleby said the site is compliant at 690 feet by walking route. The department measures playground distance from equipment, not parking facilities.

Cook Inlet Tribal Council separately argued its youth-program facility qualifies as a "recreation or youth center," triggering a 500-foot state buffer under 3 AAC 306.010(a). Kyan Olanna asked in March whether the municipality or the state Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office should handle it. Tuesday's vote does not settle that.

The Northeast Community Council opposed it. "I walked that area. You have public housing straight across the street, a complex, not a building, a full complex. You have a playground right next door. You have a health clinic right there," council president Pamela Rager said.