New cannabis shop has Petaluma address

Petaluma’s first cannabis dispensary quietly opened last week. Technically, though, Down Under Industries on Ely Road near Old Redwood Highway is not actually in Petaluma.

“We’re just shy of 1,000 feet outside,” said Jamie Reagan, the owner. “We’re pushing the limits.”

But the dispensary’s proximity to Sonoma County’s second largest city, which has banned cannabis shops since state voters legalized the industry in 2016, is not lost on Reagan, a Petaluma native. The next closest dispensary is 10 miles away in Cotati.

Because the tiny, 700-square-foot store is located on unincorporated land, Reagan had to navigate the Byzantine county permitting process, which took three years and cost $45,000 for the permits alone. Down Under Industries was the first new dispensary permitted in the county since recreational cannabis sales became legal.

“It took a long time to do this,” said Reagan, a mother of two. “I think there’s still some kinks to work out. As the county gets more aware, it’s going to get easier.”

Reagan is a co-owner with her husband, who is from Australia - hence the “Down Under” name.

Inside the dispensary the decor is what Reagan calls “rustic industrial farmhouse,” with recycled metal countertops and siding. She has five employees plus a security service.

Despite the shop’s small size - Reagan poached two bays from her stepfather’s adjoining auto garage - the dispensary carries a full menu of products from flower to concentrates and vape cartridges to edibles and tinctures. They also carry popular CBD products, which consumers use to relax and ease pain, and do not contain the psychoactive drug TCH.

“We’re giving people an option that they didn’t have before,” Reagan said. “Now Petaluma has a local resource.”

The city has long banned medical marijuana dispensaries, which became legal in California in 1996. In 2016, voters approved Prop. 64, which legalized the sale and use of recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older.

The new law allowed local jurisdictions to set their own policy. Santa Rosa and other cities and the county allowed dispensaries. Petaluma outlawed cannabis storefronts, but permitted up to two delivery services and allowed cannabis product manufacturing within a narrow industrial zone.

City leaders have promised to revisit the ban on dispensaries.

“It’s a question of doing what voters asked us to do,” said Mayor Teresa Barrett, who has advocated for lifting the ban on dispensaries. “The time is ripe for that.”

Councilman Gabe Kearney is also in favor of permitting dispensaries in certain parts of down. He said Petaluma is missing out on a potential revenue source.

“It’s something we have to look at,” he said. “We need to look at every funding source possible.”

Reagan said she wouldn’t mind if other dispensaries opened in Petaluma. She said she would be interested in a storefront closer to the city’s core.

“Competition is healthy. It keeps people honest,” she said. “I would like to be on the table for a downtown dispensary if the conversation changes.”

The county permit only allows the shop to be open six days per week from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and customers must first schedule an appointment. Reagan said she plans on reaching out to neighbors and local officials, who expressed concern about her business moving into the area.

“I want people to see what I’m doing and show them it’s not all taboo,” she said. “What you don’t know is scary. When you educate yourself, it becomes less scary.”

Though she now lives in San Francisco, the Petaluma High School graduate still considers this city home. A former property manager, she said she got into the cannabis industry to provide a benefit in people’s lives.

“First of all, I’m a mom and a business owner,” she said. “I’m trying to pave a path in this community.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)