Council to Consider Rival Pot Ordinances

[PFlynn]

The City Council on Monday will be presented with two rival ordinance proposals, one to allow medical marijuana dispensaries and the other to ban them. Current city law does not address the issue. The Planning Commission, by a vote of 3-2 last month, recommended the council allow up to three dispensaries within city limits.

There are two medical marijuana facilities operating in Malibu, Green Angel and PCH Collective. If the council votes in favor of allowing the dispensaries, those two facilities could apply for conditional-use permits to stay in business, and others could apply to be the third dispensary within Malibu.

The proposal to legalize the businesses contains several restrictions, including the requirement for a security guard patrolling as much as a two-block radius around the business (the city manager would decide the range); the marijuana cannot be used on-site; only qualified patients with doctor recommendations (due to federal law, they are not called prescriptions) receive the marijuana; and the dispensaries cannot be located within a 500-foot radius of a school, daycare, religious facility, playground or park.

Medical marijuana became legal in California more than a decade ago when voters approved Proposition 215, "The Compassionate Use Act of 1996." But the federal government does not recognize this legalization, and the Drug Enforcement Administration has raided several dispensaries in California.

This conflict was one of the reasons Planning Commissioners Regan Schaar and Ed Gillespie voted against legalization in June, citing safety issues.

City Council members interviewed for this article would not say how they planned to vote, saying they wanted to wait until after the public hearing to decide. Council members usually do not make public statements about how they plan to vote prior to a meeting. City staff has not recommended for which of the two options the council should vote.

BLibrary improvements coming

Also on Monday, the council will consider a memorandum of understanding with the county that will bring $2.6 million to the city for interior and exterior library improvements and allow Malibu to be the lead agency in deciding what changes will be made to the county-owned library.

The money being given to the city comes from an account to which the county has been contributing since 2004 based on the annual difference in the amount of property tax received by the county for library services from Malibu property owners and the amount of money used by the county to provide "basic level services" at the library. Then-newly elected Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich first brought to the attention of the city in 2004 that Malibu taxpayers had been paying far more into the county system than they were receiving in services. The county and city governments have been in discussions on this issue since that time.

Malibu can use the money as a one-time expenditure for major projects or for on-going enhancements. Although the city will be the lead agency, the agreement requires Malibu and the county to work together on determining what projects should be done, and the proposals would require approval from both governments. County library and city officials will meet in November to discuss how the money would be used for the next fiscal year beginning in July. The memorandum of understanding will last until June 2019, with funds being added every year. The city considered whether to form an independent library system, but then scrapped the idea.

Bluffs Park deal being worked out

The council on Monday will also vote on the hiring of The Planning Center from Costa Mesa to write the environmental impact report for the proposed deal between the city and Richard Ackerman, the owner of the Crummer properly located west of Bluffs Park. The proposal calls for Ackerman to build five 9,500- to 11,000-square-foot homes on his property and his donation of land to the city for the possible creation of a ball field and two open space areas that could be used for picnics or a dog park. Also, the Bluffs Park parking area would be expanded by 35 spaces onto the Crummer property. Ackerman will pay for The Planning Center's services.

Other items included on Monday's agenda: a proposal to support Assembly Bill 2058, which would establish a 25 cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags; the annual collection fee for the Malibu Garbage Disposal District and Councilmember Jefferson Wagner's appointment to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Wagner had already made a selection in May, but his appointment, Graeme Clifford, was disqualified because he did not live within city limits. Clifford had fought for a law that would allow nonresidents to sit on certain commissions, but the council rejected that proposal last week. However, city leaders did approve an ordinance allowing certain commissions, including Parks and Recreation, to have one nonvoting member who could be from outside the city.



News Hawk: PFlynn - http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: Malibu Times (CA)
Copyright: 2008 The Malibu Times
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