Yuma Way, doing business locally as Fresno Farms, seeks to open a cannabis dispensary in a former Mexican restaurant near the Fresno Fairgrounds.

Members of the Fresno City Council took the owners of a cannabis company to task Thursday for missteps in establishing a retail dispensary.

Colorado-based retail and cultivation company Yuma Way is behind Fresno Farms, which applied for a change of location for its first prospective storefront at 3849 E. Ventura Ave. It came to light after Fresno Farms was awarded a license in October 2021 that the Francine and Murray Farber Educational Campus was being built near the site.

Fresno Farms applied to relocate to a former Mexican food restaurant at 4555 E. Kings Canyon Rd. across the street from the Fresno Fairgrounds, winning preliminary approval in May.

Fresno Councilmember Luis Chavez appealed the relocation application, expressing concerns about the strorefront’s proximity to the Big Fresno Fair.

Yuma Way representatives, Chief Compliance Officer Jessica Reuven and CEO Rita Tsalyuk, were on hand to address concerns from the council members. They said the facility would have all of the necessary security measures to keep minors out of the store.

In addition, Reuven said they would not run any special promotions that would increase the storefront’s visibility during the October run of the Big Fresno Fair.

Yuma Way, which operates more than a dozen dispensaries across the country, also has a formal state enforcement action for selling a joint to a minor at its dispensary in Longmont, Colorado in 2021, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. Yuma Way had to pay a $10,000 fine as part of the enforcement action.

Reuven said that location in Colorado is owned by only one member of the Yuma Way ownership group. She added that the company’s ID verification process helps prevent such incidents today.

Yuma Way Chief Financial Officer Kirill Merkulov said he was owner of the location that was cited. He said the sale did not go through.

Tsalyuk, Yuma Way CEO, told the council that the two employees responsible for selling cannabis to the minor decoy were fired, with one allowed to return to work after a year.

The Yuma Way ownership group said it did its due diligence in selecting its original Fresno storefront location, depending on a GIS program to ensure they didn’t locate in restricted areas with sensitive uses. Tsalyuk did admit they knew the construction site would become a school, but she said it was her understanding from a real estate broker that it would be a vocational school for adults and not a Fresno Unified high school.

Chavez withdrew his appeal for the location change, saying he would weigh in on the company’s operations when it comes time for Fresno Farms to file for a conditional use permit, one of the final approvals needed before opening a dispensary.

Fresno Councilmember Miguel Arias also indicated the applicant’s operations would be scrutinized due to its proximity to the Fresno Fairgrounds, with 1.5 million people visiting the grounds annually for the Big Fresno Fair and other events.

Arias said strike one for Yuma Way was seeking to build across from a Fresno school. Strike two was the Colorado enforcement action.

He said he was not confident Yuma Way could successfully operate without putting minors in jeopardy, especially near the site of the Big Fresno Fair.

“I surely will not put millions of students at risk and minors by opening up a controlled substance facility without the necessary safeguards,” he said.