Eureka To Hold Workshop On Medical Marijuana Ordinance

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CA - Eureka has unveiled its draft medical marijuana ordinance, meant to regulate the cultivation, possession and distribution of cannabis, and is asking residents to provide their input Tuesday night.

City Manager David Tyson said this meeting, which will be led by City Council members Jeff Leonard and Linda Atkins, allows the city to gather more input on the land use code ordinance that was modeled after the city of Arcata's.

”We've modified the ordinance to fit the needs of Eureka,” Tyson said.

The ordinance is designed to regulate the cultivation of medical cannabis and formation of medical cannabis collectives in Eureka. Tyson emphasized that the ordinance is not intended to interfere with a patient's legal right to marijuana, nor does it criminalize medical cannabis possession or cultivation by specifically defined people, pursuant to state law.

The ordinance includes definitions, interpretation of law, and the requirements and regulations associated with personal use as well as cooperatives and collectives.

City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner said the ordinance is similar to Arcata's in principle.

”They are both fundamentally land use approaches,” Schaffner said. “Ours was modified to make it dovetail with our existing zoning and land use requirements to meet with our land use standards.”

Schaffner added that the city also included a few findings to make sure current law associated with recent Proposition
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215 cases was reflected, refined definitions and included provisions for the permit fee structure.

”We need to make sure that the implementing of this permitting structure will reflect fees,” she said, adding that the fees will be determined and then set by council at a later time.

Interim Community Development Director Sidnie Olson said she tried to make Eureka's ordinance more user friendly.

”There were parts of Arcata's ordinance that, being a planner, it had holes in it to me,” she said, adding that she did not have a lot of experience with issues associated with marijuana grows.

Olson said Eureka's ordinance discusses processing and draws a more defined line when it comes to a primary caregiver's ability to grow, and provides room for interpretation when it comes to what constitutes a cannabis cultivation or distribution facility.

”I think what we're trying to anticipate is the average,” she said. “We're not going to be able to anticipate the extreme.”

A copy of the draft medical cannabis ordinance can be found on the city's Web site at City of Eureka Website - Homepage.


If You Go:

What: Medical cannabis ordinance workshop

Where: Council Chambers, Eureka City Hall, 531 K St.

When: Tuesday, 7 to 9 p.m.


NewsHawk: User: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: contracostatimes.com
Author: Donna Tam
Copyright: 2010 Bay Area News Group
Contact: Contact Us - ContraCostaTimes.com
Website: Eureka to hold workshop on medical marijuana ordinance - ContraCostaTimes.com

• Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article