[420 Girl]

A Berkeley developer and a private school are threatening to sue the city if it allows a medical marijuana dispensary to move into their neighborhood on the west side of town.

Lawyers for Wareham Development, which owns 22 buildings in the area, and Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, told the City Council Tuesday night they would start legal action if the city issues a permit to Berkeley Patients Group to rent the former Scharffen Berger chocolate building at 914 Heinz Ave.

And in a twist of public opinion on the issue, a second private school, which is across the street from Berkeley Patients Group current location on San Pablo Ave, defended and praised the dispensary during the meeting.

The former Scharffen Berger building is owned by a family trust out of Lafayette, but a spokesman for the trust declined to comment. Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley is about one block from that location.

After taking public testimony and meeting in closed session, the Council decided to continue the issue until Feb. 1.

Chris Barlow, who represents Wareham, said medical marijuana is bad for his company's bottom line.

"Real estate is all about location and this is the wrong location for a medical marijuana dispensary," Barlow said.

"We've been trying to attract high technology and green technology to the area. This use at this site is counterproductive to this effort."

David Bowie, a lawyer for Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, said Berkeley's Measure JJ, which allows medical marijuana dispensaries to be anywhere in the city without a public hearing and which bans them from being within 1,000 feet of a public school but not a private school, is unfair and illegal.

"The courts have shown that there is no rational distinction between public and private students," Bowie said.

"There's no way in the world this can be supported as a matter of law and we intend to protect our rights." But Jill Ellis, founder and executive director of a private school called the Center for Early Intervention on Deafness, which is directly across the street from the current location of Berkeley Patients Group, said she has no problem being next to the dispensary.

"We've been neighbors for seven years," Ellis said. "When we moved in I went over there and was shocked to find such impressive security. I couldn't even get in. In seven years we have had no complaints. At nights and weekends we feel safe working late because they have guards there. That's been our experience." Harry Pollack, a lawyer for Berkeley Patients Group, told the Council the city is obligated to issue a permit under Measure JJ which was enacted by voters in 2008.

"In the normal course of events, the zoning certificate we applied for should be given very soon," said Pollack. "We have a pending application and the city has an obligation to grant the permit."

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