Santa Rosa medical marijuana businesses gain access to wider, nonresidential swath of city

The Santa Rosa City Council declared Tuesday that medical marijuana support services such as testing labs and oil extraction businesses can legally be located in certain nonresidential areas of the city.

The move, which takes effect immediately, opens up significant new areas of the city to the medical cannabis industry, as long as they follow a host of other regulations.

City officials said the goal was to close the gap that exists between two cannabis uses that are already allowed in the city with property permits — commercial…