Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
No new medical marijuana dispensaries will be opening in Corte Madera - -- at least for the next month and a half -- after the Town Council unanimously approved a moratorium on the pot clubs.
At a Nov. 8 special meeting, the council joined Fairfax and other Marin municipalities and passed a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries before an audience of just two Redwood High School students there for a class assignment and Twin Cities police Chief Todd Cusimano, Mayor Carla Condon said.
"It was the most logical solution to maintain the town's control over land use," Condon said. "At the present time, a medical marijuana dispensary is not a permitted use according to our town policy and zoning codes. The moratorium simply provides further clarification."
Corte Madera is involved in a lawsuit with Marin Holistic Solutions, a dispensary that opened in an office complex on Tamal Vista Boulevard last year. Going Green dispensary also opened in the same complex in 2009 but moved out over the summer after its landlord became concerned about possible litigation with the town, manager Kim Pelham said at the time.
In May, Corte Madera's Planning Commission began considering an ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries that would have allowed Marin Holistic and Going Green to apply for licensing. However, the Town Council then voted 4-0 during a June 1 closed-session discussion to authorize cease-and-desist letters that warned the clubs to stop operating by June 25, Town Attorney Jeffrey Walter said at the time.
On July 16, Walter filed a complaint in Marin Superior Court requesting preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop Marin Holistic from storing, cultivating or distributing medical marijuana, which the town says are not permitted uses under current zoning code. A hearing on the preliminary injunction is set for Dec. 20.
"It's belt and suspenders," Walter said of the moratorium. "We already have a ban but we're making it doubly clear that these operations are not permitted in Corte Madera."
But Corte Madera's new moratorium won't affect Marin Holistic at this point, said Scot Candell, an attorney representing the dispensary.
"It doesn't affect the facility that's open now," Candell said. "It prohibits anyone from opening a new dispensary."
Nonetheless, should Marin Superior Court Judge James Ritchie decide Marin Holistic didn't open legally as the town contends, the business would no longer be exempt from the moratorium, Walter said.
San Rafael resident Darren Foti, a member of Americans for Safe Access, said Corte Madera's decision "doesn't surprise me."
Foti said such measures should instead go before an unbiased Marin County commission rather than letting proponents or opponents of medical marijuana call the shots.
"The people that are pushing the agendas don't know anything or have a very strong bias for or against medical marijuana," Foti said, noting that he's tired of NIMBY attitudes about dispensary locations.
Laurie Dubin, a Larkspur resident and Redwood High School parent who has been a vocal opponent of the Corte Madera dispensaries, praised the moratorium.
"Now that the California voters have soundly rejected legalization of recreational use of marijuana through Proposition 19, I am gratified our town is taking action to reject de facto legalization through so-called medical marijuana dispensaries, which are largely a sham and abuse the Compassionate Use Act," Dubin said.
Going Green's Pelham, who said in September she planned to reopen her dispensary in a permanent space but wouldn't specify where, couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
In October, Fairfax, home to the 13-year-old dispensary Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, passed a similar 45-day moratorium on new pot clubs. The council voted 4-0 Wednesday to extend the moratorium another six months, with Councilman Larry Bragman abstaining.
Mill Valley and Sausalito also have moratoriums on their books, and in 1997 San Rafael and Larkspur banned medical marijuana dispensaries as an "allowable use" in their cities.
The Corte Madera council will consider extending its moratorium on dispensaries at a meeting in December, Walter said. The extensions may continue for up to two years.
Town employees are researching the issue for future council discussion on whether to regulate rather than ban medical marijuana dispensaries, a move cities such as San Francisco, San Mateo and Berkeley have taken, Walter said.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA)
Copyright: 2010 Marin Independent Journal
Contact: opinion@marinij.com
Website: Home - Marin Independent Journal
Details: MapInc
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax
At a Nov. 8 special meeting, the council joined Fairfax and other Marin municipalities and passed a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries before an audience of just two Redwood High School students there for a class assignment and Twin Cities police Chief Todd Cusimano, Mayor Carla Condon said.
"It was the most logical solution to maintain the town's control over land use," Condon said. "At the present time, a medical marijuana dispensary is not a permitted use according to our town policy and zoning codes. The moratorium simply provides further clarification."
Corte Madera is involved in a lawsuit with Marin Holistic Solutions, a dispensary that opened in an office complex on Tamal Vista Boulevard last year. Going Green dispensary also opened in the same complex in 2009 but moved out over the summer after its landlord became concerned about possible litigation with the town, manager Kim Pelham said at the time.
In May, Corte Madera's Planning Commission began considering an ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries that would have allowed Marin Holistic and Going Green to apply for licensing. However, the Town Council then voted 4-0 during a June 1 closed-session discussion to authorize cease-and-desist letters that warned the clubs to stop operating by June 25, Town Attorney Jeffrey Walter said at the time.
On July 16, Walter filed a complaint in Marin Superior Court requesting preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop Marin Holistic from storing, cultivating or distributing medical marijuana, which the town says are not permitted uses under current zoning code. A hearing on the preliminary injunction is set for Dec. 20.
"It's belt and suspenders," Walter said of the moratorium. "We already have a ban but we're making it doubly clear that these operations are not permitted in Corte Madera."
But Corte Madera's new moratorium won't affect Marin Holistic at this point, said Scot Candell, an attorney representing the dispensary.
"It doesn't affect the facility that's open now," Candell said. "It prohibits anyone from opening a new dispensary."
Nonetheless, should Marin Superior Court Judge James Ritchie decide Marin Holistic didn't open legally as the town contends, the business would no longer be exempt from the moratorium, Walter said.
San Rafael resident Darren Foti, a member of Americans for Safe Access, said Corte Madera's decision "doesn't surprise me."
Foti said such measures should instead go before an unbiased Marin County commission rather than letting proponents or opponents of medical marijuana call the shots.
"The people that are pushing the agendas don't know anything or have a very strong bias for or against medical marijuana," Foti said, noting that he's tired of NIMBY attitudes about dispensary locations.
Laurie Dubin, a Larkspur resident and Redwood High School parent who has been a vocal opponent of the Corte Madera dispensaries, praised the moratorium.
"Now that the California voters have soundly rejected legalization of recreational use of marijuana through Proposition 19, I am gratified our town is taking action to reject de facto legalization through so-called medical marijuana dispensaries, which are largely a sham and abuse the Compassionate Use Act," Dubin said.
Going Green's Pelham, who said in September she planned to reopen her dispensary in a permanent space but wouldn't specify where, couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
In October, Fairfax, home to the 13-year-old dispensary Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, passed a similar 45-day moratorium on new pot clubs. The council voted 4-0 Wednesday to extend the moratorium another six months, with Councilman Larry Bragman abstaining.
Mill Valley and Sausalito also have moratoriums on their books, and in 1997 San Rafael and Larkspur banned medical marijuana dispensaries as an "allowable use" in their cities.
The Corte Madera council will consider extending its moratorium on dispensaries at a meeting in December, Walter said. The extensions may continue for up to two years.
Town employees are researching the issue for future council discussion on whether to regulate rather than ban medical marijuana dispensaries, a move cities such as San Francisco, San Mateo and Berkeley have taken, Walter said.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA)
Copyright: 2010 Marin Independent Journal
Contact: opinion@marinij.com
Website: Home - Marin Independent Journal
Details: MapInc
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax
