Jacob Bell
New Member
LAKEPORT -- The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted unanimously Tuesday to rescind the medical marijuana dispensary ordinance after a referendum petition was submitted to the County Office of the Registrar of Voters.
The referendum petition had 3,540 unverified signatures on it, of which 2,115 were deemed sufficient by Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley.
The law required the BOS to take action, either to rescind the ordinance entirely or to submit the issue to voters at the June 5 presidential primary election or at a special election held prior to the primary.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown called for the BOS to rescind the ordinance, saying he could not justify spending money to put on the ballot an issue that is considered illegal at the federal level. He said it would risk a lawsuit from the federal government and didn't think that was right.
County Counsel Anita Grant said the county's dispensary ordinance was a land-use issue and was analogous to the City of Long Beach's proposal for medical marijuana dispensaries, which allowed them to operate with a permit process. A California appeals court on Oct. 5 agreed with litigants Ryan Pack and Anthony Gale who sued the City of Long Beach by claiming its medical marijuana dispensary ordinance was in violation of federal law.
Grant said the case is still subject to review but that the decision states jurisdictions can't make something lawful that is deemed unlawful.
Community Development Director Rick Coel, who helped draft the ordinance along with the Lake County Planning Commission, said the outside group that gathered signatures for the referendum had been dishonest and it was not fair. He said the ordinance had been a compromise and the county needed to "go back to square one."
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said this has been a hard issue. He said the issue of legalization was not at stake and should be resolved at the federal level.
Farrington added that he had always viewed the dispensaries as a land-use issue, calling the ordinance a compromise. He said a clean slate is needed and supported rescinding the ordinance and shutting the dispensaries down.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, who voted against the ordinance because she felt it could've been better, wondered if they could rescind the ordinance and have staff create a new ordinance.
Brown said the county would still be faced with threats from the federal government. Grant said the federal government has sent notices to a few large-scale dispensaries in the state. She said the Pack v. Long Beach case is a state law case, which could make things more complicated.
Many from the public spoke to the BOS on the issue. One man said the BOS should revisit the ordinance to avoid getting sued by the federal government. He said the more the county limits access to medical marijuana, the more criminal marijuana dealers are enabled.
Another man encouraged the BOS to place the issue before the voters, where he predicted it would fail.
Brown said many different perspectives existed on this debate and the BOS made the best decision it could. He said he believed most were happy with the outcome and the BOS needs to wait and see what the federal government is going to do with medical marijuana.
Brown offered to rescind the ordinance and directed staff to take appropriate action on code enforcement, which is typically complaint driven. The BOS unanimously approved rescinding the ordinance.
Coel said the dispensaries are now not allowed in the unincorporated areas of the county, and the moratorium period has lapsed with the BOS unable to grant another. He said the county can't selectively enforce code on the dispensaries and county action will be determined on this issue in the near future.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: record-bee.com
Author: Kevin N. Hume
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Lake County Record-Bee
Website: County dispensaries now not allowed
The referendum petition had 3,540 unverified signatures on it, of which 2,115 were deemed sufficient by Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley.
The law required the BOS to take action, either to rescind the ordinance entirely or to submit the issue to voters at the June 5 presidential primary election or at a special election held prior to the primary.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown called for the BOS to rescind the ordinance, saying he could not justify spending money to put on the ballot an issue that is considered illegal at the federal level. He said it would risk a lawsuit from the federal government and didn't think that was right.
County Counsel Anita Grant said the county's dispensary ordinance was a land-use issue and was analogous to the City of Long Beach's proposal for medical marijuana dispensaries, which allowed them to operate with a permit process. A California appeals court on Oct. 5 agreed with litigants Ryan Pack and Anthony Gale who sued the City of Long Beach by claiming its medical marijuana dispensary ordinance was in violation of federal law.
Grant said the case is still subject to review but that the decision states jurisdictions can't make something lawful that is deemed unlawful.
Community Development Director Rick Coel, who helped draft the ordinance along with the Lake County Planning Commission, said the outside group that gathered signatures for the referendum had been dishonest and it was not fair. He said the ordinance had been a compromise and the county needed to "go back to square one."
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said this has been a hard issue. He said the issue of legalization was not at stake and should be resolved at the federal level.
Farrington added that he had always viewed the dispensaries as a land-use issue, calling the ordinance a compromise. He said a clean slate is needed and supported rescinding the ordinance and shutting the dispensaries down.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, who voted against the ordinance because she felt it could've been better, wondered if they could rescind the ordinance and have staff create a new ordinance.
Brown said the county would still be faced with threats from the federal government. Grant said the federal government has sent notices to a few large-scale dispensaries in the state. She said the Pack v. Long Beach case is a state law case, which could make things more complicated.
Many from the public spoke to the BOS on the issue. One man said the BOS should revisit the ordinance to avoid getting sued by the federal government. He said the more the county limits access to medical marijuana, the more criminal marijuana dealers are enabled.
Another man encouraged the BOS to place the issue before the voters, where he predicted it would fail.
Brown said many different perspectives existed on this debate and the BOS made the best decision it could. He said he believed most were happy with the outcome and the BOS needs to wait and see what the federal government is going to do with medical marijuana.
Brown offered to rescind the ordinance and directed staff to take appropriate action on code enforcement, which is typically complaint driven. The BOS unanimously approved rescinding the ordinance.
Coel said the dispensaries are now not allowed in the unincorporated areas of the county, and the moratorium period has lapsed with the BOS unable to grant another. He said the county can't selectively enforce code on the dispensaries and county action will be determined on this issue in the near future.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: record-bee.com
Author: Kevin N. Hume
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Lake County Record-Bee
Website: County dispensaries now not allowed
