Calling it another
”
strategic move
”
in his effort to gain approval to operate his medical marijuana
dispensary in Hollister, Scott McPhail recently moved Purple Cross
Rx from its downtown location and now rents a 4,000-square-foot
building across the street from the Hollister Airport.
Calling it another “strategic move” in his effort to gain approval to operate his medical marijuana dispensary in Hollister, Scott McPhail recently moved Purple Cross Rx from its downtown location and now rents a 4,000-square-foot building across the street from the Hollister Airport.
The city had sued McPhail and his landlord in an effort to get the dispensary to move from its 335 San Benito St. location – and figured the tactic worked when McPhail closed the shop one week before the matter was set to go to court last week.
Unbeknownst to City Attorney Stephanie Atigh, who dismissed the lawsuit when Purple Cross pulled up stakes, McPhail recently moved the dispensary’s offices and his music label – Felony1 Records – to 1785 San Felipe Road, the former location of the Dance Factory.
“It was a strategic move to step away from that building at it worked,” said McPhail, who recently opened up another medical marijuana dispensary in Los Banos and has plans for five more locations, including spots in San Jose, Colorado and Michigan, to open within the next month or two.
McPhail is renting the Hollister and Los Banos buildings from former San Benito County Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, who said Tuesday that the lease agreement for the Hollister location only allows the record company, not Purple Cross, to operate there.
“He did move his music business there; that’s the only use,” Scagliotti said. “He said he’s not going to mess around with the Purple Cross there.”
Scagliotti added that McPhail and the city have to “settle their issues” before Scagliotti would consider letting Purple Cross dispense medical marijuana from the San Felipe Road site. If an agreement was reached, “he has to come back to me and we’d have to look at it,” the landlord said.
Asked about the Los Banos location, Scagliotti said that if McPhail is challenged by that city as he was in Hollister, “he’s going to have to close down.”
McPhail said he plans to ask the Hollister City Council to reconsider its ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries before considering his next move.
By switching landlords and changing his company from an unincorporated nonprofit to an incorporated one, McPhail said he believes the city would have to file another lawsuit against this new entity and Scagliotti, tying the matter up in court once again.
“It locks it up in court and my attorneys are able to keep us open,” he said. “It’s not like we have to close down. I operated for eight months before my first court date. It’s a slow process because I’m operating within my rights.”
McPhail said that while patient walk-ins are not yet allowed at his new facility as they were at the downtown location, Purple Cross does continue to offer delivery to its more than 400 patients in Hollister.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
