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Tag Archives: Eric Thomas
Cannabis collective 3PG closes its Berkeley operation
The sign for Perfect Plants Patients Group is still in the window of 2840-B Sacramento Street, but the cannabis collective has closed up shop, according to its owner, Eric Thomas.
The collective shut its doors on Nov. 14, the day after the Berkeley City Council held a public hearing that determined the collective was a nuisance and was in violation of zoning laws, according to Thomas. While he moved out his product, many files, and some furniture that day, the landlord changed the locks on Nov. 15 when Thomas did not pay the next month’s rent. He has been unable to get inside to retrieve the last of his possessions and take out the sign, he said.
Thomas has no firm plans to reopen the collective, which has been operating since September 2011. He runs another 3PG in Vallejo and he is offering Berkeley clients a 25% discount on medicine purchased there, he said. 3PG is also doing Berkeley deliveries from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. … Continue reading »
Berkeley will seek to shutter 3PG cannabis collective
Despite pleas that Perfect Plants Patients group was a good neighbor, the Berkeley City Council Tuesday night voted that the cannabis collective was in violation of the city’s zoning laws.
The determination at the end of a public hearing paves the way for the council to vote on a resolution Nov. 27 to order the closure of the collective, located at 2840-B Sacramento Street.
The news came as a relief – if overdue – to neighbors of 3PGs, who have been pressing Berkeley for more than a year to shut down the business. Since 3PGs opened in September 2011, neighbors report they have seen increased hand-to-hand drug sales along Sacramento Street, spotted people smoking pot in their cars, and noticed more drug paraphernalia on the streets. … Continue reading »
ZAB tells Berkeley cannabis collective to shut down
After listening to residents complain how a medical cannabis facility on Sacramento Street had drawn unsavory loiterers, trash, and trouble – as well as testimony that it was a good neighbor – the Zoning Adjustments Board on Thursday voted 7-0, with one abstention, to declare it a public nuisance.
The vote that determined Perfect Plants Patients Group at 2840-B Sacramento Street had violated numerous zoning laws will send the issue to the City Council, which will make the final determination whether the business should shut down.
The decision disappointed Eric Thomas, who founded the medical cannabis collective. He said he has been trying to find a new location for the business, but has not found a landlord willing to rent to him. … Continue reading »
Berkeley moves to shut down cannabis operation
More than a year after it opened its doors in an apparent violation of Berkeley’s zoning laws, city officials are taking steps to shutter the Perfect Plants Patients Group (3Pgs) at 2840-B Sacramento Street.
City staff will ask the Zoning Adjustments Board on Thursday to find that 3Pgs is a public nuisance and is in violation of Berkeley’s municipal code. If the ZAB board agrees, the matter will be referred to the City Council for action.
The city believes that 3PGs is violating numerous zoning and municipal code laws: it is operating a retail outlet without a permit; it is operating as a medical cannabis dispensary without a permit; if it tries to claim it is a cannabis collective rather than a dispensary it is still operating illegally because collectives cannot be in commercial districts. 3Pgs is also located just 546 feet from Longfellow Middle School. The law requires a 600-foot buffer.
“As a result of the above facts and investigation, it is apparent that Perfect Plants Patients Group cannabis operation at 2840-B Sacramento Street has repeatedly and consistently operated in violation of BMC Chapter 12.26 and the Zoning Ordinance,” states the staff report’s conclusion. … Continue reading »
Concerns raised about new medical cannabis collective
A new medical cannabis collective has opened up on Sacramento Street near Oregon, bringing to two the number of groups that are operating in a commercial district in apparent violation of Berkeley’s zoning ordinances.
Perfect Plant Patient’s Group, or 3pgs, opened its doors in early September at 2840B Sacramento Street, according to Eric Thomas, 35, a former highway construction worker turned cannabis entrepreneur. The non-profit cannabis collective operates in three counties, runs a delivery service, and is planning to open another bricks and mortar operation in Vallejo, he said. The group had to shut down its El Sobrante location in late July because it was located in unincorporated Contra Costa County, which has a ban on cannabis operations.
After getting kicked out of El Sobrante, Thomas called around to various East Bay cities to find out about their medical cannabis laws and selected Berkeley because it “seemed the most organized,” he said. Thomas and his partners also had conversations with City Councilmember Kriss Worthington’s office about relocating here and felt encouraged to do so. (Worthington’s office did not tell the group to locate in a commercial area, said Thomas.) … Continue reading »
