Board approves another downtown pot shop - which is closer to another one than called for by city ordinance

The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved a Dorchester duo's proposed marijuana market at 83-89 Devonshire Street at Water Street downtown - less than a quarter mile from an existing shop on Milk Street.

This is the latest cannabis concern the board has approved that is closer to an existing facility than the half mile set in an ordinance enacted in 2016.

Board member Mark Erlich cast one of the two no votes on the proposal, not, he said, because there's anything wrong with the proposal itself but because he's tired of being put in the position of having to grant an exemption to official city policy. Maybe, he suggested, it's time for the City Council to change the ordinance, since such applications keep coming before the board. Board member Kosta Ligris also voted against the proposal for that reason.

Kobie Evans, who with partner Kevin Hart operates the Pure Oasis dispensary in Grove Hall, said "the site chose us," because it turns out downtown Boston is actually pretty small and there are few locations suitable for a dispensary because of the presence of a "sober" high school on Temple Place. "The vast majority of downtown is out of play," he said.

But Evans and his attorney, Alexis Tkachuk, added that downtown is different from other neighborhoods because of how dense it is and how much foot traffic it gets, so what might be considered "clustering" of dispensaries elsewhere in Boston wouldn't really be downtown.

The new Pure Oasis - which still requires approval of the state Cannabis Control Commission - would have roughly 7,000 square feet of space over 2 1/2 floors. Tkakchuk said this means the store would have more than enough room on its ground level to have all customers waiting inside, rather than queuing on the sidewalk.

Board member Joe Ruggiero expressed concern about the large picture windows on the first floor of the space, which he said are an integral part of the building's pre-war charm, because of state cannabis regulations that require applicants to shield their retail space from outside views.

Evans said Pure Oasis is looking at how to continue to celebrate the architecture of the building while still adhering to the state regulations. He said one possibility is to add a polycarbonate layer that would let light in but not prying eyes.

Ruggiero moved to approve the project, but with "design review" by the BPDA to see how to not completely obliterate the look of the building with blacked-out windows.