If the Green Angel Collective medical marijuana dispensary wants to reopen for business, it needs to find a new location. The City Council on Monday refused to adjust the medical marijuana law to allow it do business at the current location on Pacific Coast Highway near Rambla Pacifico.
The current city law states that no marijuana dispensary can be located within a 1,000-foot radius of sensitive areas such as parks, schools and religious centers. The Green Angel location does not comply because it is too close too Las Flores Canyon Park. The facility closed last month after a tentative arrangement it had with the city expired.
Green Angel management asked for the distance restriction to be decreased to 500 feet. There was no support from any council member for this.
"I'm very reluctant to do a zone text amendment to specifically benefit one business," Mayor Pro Tem John Sibert said. "That bothers me. I don't think that's good precedent for the City Council."
Jeffrey Valle, attorney for Green Angel, said the law should be changed because, among other reasons, if Green Angel could not reopen, it would give a Malibu monopoly on medical marijuana to PCH Collective. He also said that his client was the better and cheaper of the two facilities in this city.
"Green Angel is the collective that serves cancer patients and the seriously ill," he said. "Does that mean that no younger people go there? Of course not. These are medical marijuana collectives. And there are plenty of issues with that general proposition. But that's not what is before the council."
Several public speakers told the council that Green Angel is less than innocent. Among the speakers was the owner of neighboring Terra Restaurant. He and others spoke of marijuana being smoked at the facility, which is not allowed by state law. Also, they said many young people, who do not appear to be sick, get marijuana there. Councilmember Laura Rosenthal said it was not her reason for voting against amending the law, but she did not believe Green Angel was in good standing.
"It sounds as if Green Angel has not been a good neighbor, good neighbor to the restaurant next to it, good neighbor to the residents who are actually very close to it and a good neighbor to Malibu," Rosenthal said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Malibu Times
Author: Jonathan Friedman
Copyright: 2010 The Malibu Times
The current city law states that no marijuana dispensary can be located within a 1,000-foot radius of sensitive areas such as parks, schools and religious centers. The Green Angel location does not comply because it is too close too Las Flores Canyon Park. The facility closed last month after a tentative arrangement it had with the city expired.
Green Angel management asked for the distance restriction to be decreased to 500 feet. There was no support from any council member for this.
"I'm very reluctant to do a zone text amendment to specifically benefit one business," Mayor Pro Tem John Sibert said. "That bothers me. I don't think that's good precedent for the City Council."
Jeffrey Valle, attorney for Green Angel, said the law should be changed because, among other reasons, if Green Angel could not reopen, it would give a Malibu monopoly on medical marijuana to PCH Collective. He also said that his client was the better and cheaper of the two facilities in this city.
"Green Angel is the collective that serves cancer patients and the seriously ill," he said. "Does that mean that no younger people go there? Of course not. These are medical marijuana collectives. And there are plenty of issues with that general proposition. But that's not what is before the council."
Several public speakers told the council that Green Angel is less than innocent. Among the speakers was the owner of neighboring Terra Restaurant. He and others spoke of marijuana being smoked at the facility, which is not allowed by state law. Also, they said many young people, who do not appear to be sick, get marijuana there. Councilmember Laura Rosenthal said it was not her reason for voting against amending the law, but she did not believe Green Angel was in good standing.
"It sounds as if Green Angel has not been a good neighbor, good neighbor to the restaurant next to it, good neighbor to the residents who are actually very close to it and a good neighbor to Malibu," Rosenthal said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Malibu Times
Author: Jonathan Friedman
Copyright: 2010 The Malibu Times
