The Van Ness neighborhood’s first introduction to Mr. Green, a business now applying to the DC Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) for a medical marijuana license, was over a few days in March. A “Coming Soon” banner appeared at 4302 Connecticut Avenue, indicating a recreational cannabis gifting shop would be moving in.
A sign advertising the pending arrival of Mr. Green was removed within a few days of its March 2024 appearance.
The neighborhood’s second introduction to Mr. Green, as well as its owner, Rahul “Nick” Kataria, occurred during ANC 3F’s July 16th meeting. (Here’s the video.) Kataria said that Mr. Green “got off on the wrong foot” in a misunderstanding of the District’s changing policies.
“We got this space last year in October or November,” Kataria said, and at the time, someone at ABCA told him that Mr. Green could operate as a gifting shop until it got its medical dispensary license. “I guess the rules or policies were still being developed at ABCA,” he said. “We did not know what was legal/not legal at the time.” But soon, Kataria said, “we realized that that was not the not the right move.”
Kataria owns vape shops in Virginia, and plans to turn the former Wells Fargo bank branch into a “high-end, upscale” dispensary with in-person and delivery services. He also says there would be no “gifting.”
One of the Mr. Green concept drawings in Rahul Kataria”s July 16th presentation.
“You can’t even see the products inside unless you have that medical card and we let you in,” Kataria said.
Gifting evolved after Congress prohibited the sale of marijuana in the District at retailers other than medical dispensaries. The gifting shops exploited the loophole by selling non-cannabis items such as art prints or t-shirts, then supplying the marijuana as “gifts.” DC is getting around the prohibition by lifting its limits on medical marijuana dispensaries, and licensing them much as it does bars and restaurants that sell alcohol.
The ABC board is holding its first hearing on the Mr. Green application on September 3rd, and a protest hearing in late October. An ABCA representative at the meeting explained that if 3F commissioners wish to file a protest petition, they must do so by by August 12th.
There was no talk of a protest petition at the July 16th meeting. The ANC 3F commissioners agreed they needed more time to collect feedback from the community and more details from Kataria. They also voted to schedule at least one special meeting in August.
So, Mr. Green will be the topic of the meeting ANC 3F has called for Monday, August 5th. The agenda and Zoom link are below.
In August 2022, the ANC held a special meeting on another proposed medical marijuana dispensary competing with other applicants to be the first in Ward 3. The commissioners voted to oppose the application on the grounds that the proposed location was already occupied by Pill Plus Pharmacy, which was blindsided when its landlord promised the storefront to the would-be dispensary’s proprietors.
ANC 3F Special Meeting on ABCA License for Mr. Green
August 5, 2024
6:00 until 7:00 PM
Zoom Meeting Link
▪ Welcome Call to Order and Roll Call [6:00 pm]
▪ ABCA License: Mr. Green LLC Rahul Kataria Intro and Q&A
▪ Mr. Green Presentation
▪ Proposed Settlement Agreement
▪ Community Q&A
▪ Commission Vote
▪ Adjournment [7:00 pm]
The next ANC 3F meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 17 at 7PM
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JA says
A medical marijuana dispensary won’t do anything to improve the retail desert that is Van Ness. I’m opposed. I’d rather have anything else: a hardware store, a stationary store, a cocktails bar, a clothing boutique, or anything else that might resist the streetscape blight.