There’s a chance a marijuana dispensary will open up on Venice Blvd, just west of Grand View. We call it our little downtown business area, and many of us don’t want to see that kind of a storefront there. I certainly don’t.

I already know about 2 other dispensaries in the neighborhood (one just about 1.5 blocks west on Venice Blvd. on the north side, and the other on Washington Place just east of McLaughlin), and I am a middle-aged mom. There are probably others I’m completely unaware of.

This location is 2 blocks from my kids’ school, and much closer to 2 preschools. And I realize that the actual marijuana for medical purposes is legal. But isn’t there a moritorium on opening any new dispensaries in the city of LA?

And here’s my strictly business question: have these guys done their market research? I mean, can Mar Vista really support that many dispensaries? I certainly hope it’s a no answer. But it begs the question: if not this, what businesses are going to fill the empty store fronts along our little downtown corridor?

I fully understand that rents need to be paid, and some of these buildings have sat unused for a nearly a year. Mar Vista Mom has profiled The Curious Palate and Floyd’s Barbershop, which have both recently opened, bravely, it might seem, in this economy — and I salute them and support them. They are the kind of businesses I am happy to see in my neighborhood and would love to see something open up there I could really get behind.

Because, as you might have guessed, I am not the target customer for the dispensary. No surprise, right? I am really looking for some cute retail options, some places to browse through (and buy from) after I’ve had my hair done at Floyd’s, with a Venice Grind coffee in my one hand, my Farmer’s Market veggies in the other. So if you’ve got a notion to open a store like that, please check out Mar Vista. There are leases to be had!

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An original post by Sarah Auerswald.