Mat-Su planning commission lets Bad Gramm3r marijuana shop open at 9 am

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission voted Monday to let Bad Gramm3r, a marijuana store on North Helen Lane, open at 9 am instead of 10 am. The shop will still close at 8 pm daily.

The change amends the store's 2017 conditional use permit, the borough permit a marijuana store needs to operate. Development Services Manager Wade Long said staff learned during an Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office review earlier this year that the shop had begun opening at 9 am, beyond the hours its permit allowed. The shop then returned to a 10 am opening and applied for the change, Long said.

A co-owner told commissioners the shop began opening earlier because of competition and forgot the permit's hours.

Staff suggested dropping the hours condition altogether, since state rules let marijuana retail stores operate from 8 am to 5 am the next day. Commission Chair Kelly Allen favored keeping fixed hours instead. Commissioner Brendan Carpenter agreed, saying a 9 am opening comes right after morning traffic leaves the subdivision.

Co-owner Terry Zell explained why the shop closes at 8 pm: "We have a subdivision all around us, and we thought it was really unfair to have traffic and perhaps stone people" driving near children.

Staff mailed 45 notices to nearby property owners and received no comments. The commission approved the change without objection.