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City officials want to revoke the business license of a property owner who is allowing a medical marijuana dispensary to operate without a permit.
The Long Beach City Council will decide Tuesday on whether to uphold an appeals hearing officer's recommendation to take away the commercial business license of Bentech LLC, the owner of a strip mall at 3721 E. Anaheim St.
Bentech has permitted several collectives to operate in a space at the mall, most recently the Healing Tree Holistic Association, according to Erik Sund, the city's business relations manager.
Tenants didn't have had their own licenses and Bentech hasn't been responsive to administrative fines levied nor has the company evicted the collectives as the city requested, Sund said.
Taking away Bentech's commercial business license -- which is separate from an individual business license -- will prevent any new permits from being issued at the entire property for one year.
"At the end of the day, it will affect the property owner significantly because they cannot lease that space out to a business," Sund said.
Current operators at the location won't be affected by the revocation, officials said.
Long Beach has struggled to control "rogue" dispensaries for years.
In February, the city enacted a ban on all collectives following a federal court ruling that City Attorney Robert Shannon and police officials said gutted Long Beach's ability to regulate the operators.
A six-month exemption was granted to about 20 collectives that received conditional permits during a 2010 permit lottery. The ban expired Aug. 13. No dispensary at the Bentech property was permitted by the city.
James Devine, a Ventura-based attorney representing Bentech and the Healing Tree Holistic Association in their appeal, said California law guarantees that qualified patients or their designated primary caregivers with valid identification cards may cultivate marijuana for medical purposes and not be subject to criminal penalties.
"Their laws with respect to patients' exercise of their rights is pre-empted by the California state law," Devine said of the city.
The Long Beach medical marijuana collectives ban does not apply to collectives of three or fewer persons.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: presstelegram.com
Author: Eric Bradley
Contact: Info - Press-Telegram
Website: Long Beach may shut down medical marijuana shops on East Anaheim Street - Press-Telegram
The Long Beach City Council will decide Tuesday on whether to uphold an appeals hearing officer's recommendation to take away the commercial business license of Bentech LLC, the owner of a strip mall at 3721 E. Anaheim St.
Bentech has permitted several collectives to operate in a space at the mall, most recently the Healing Tree Holistic Association, according to Erik Sund, the city's business relations manager.
Tenants didn't have had their own licenses and Bentech hasn't been responsive to administrative fines levied nor has the company evicted the collectives as the city requested, Sund said.
Taking away Bentech's commercial business license -- which is separate from an individual business license -- will prevent any new permits from being issued at the entire property for one year.
"At the end of the day, it will affect the property owner significantly because they cannot lease that space out to a business," Sund said.
Current operators at the location won't be affected by the revocation, officials said.
Long Beach has struggled to control "rogue" dispensaries for years.
In February, the city enacted a ban on all collectives following a federal court ruling that City Attorney Robert Shannon and police officials said gutted Long Beach's ability to regulate the operators.
A six-month exemption was granted to about 20 collectives that received conditional permits during a 2010 permit lottery. The ban expired Aug. 13. No dispensary at the Bentech property was permitted by the city.
James Devine, a Ventura-based attorney representing Bentech and the Healing Tree Holistic Association in their appeal, said California law guarantees that qualified patients or their designated primary caregivers with valid identification cards may cultivate marijuana for medical purposes and not be subject to criminal penalties.
"Their laws with respect to patients' exercise of their rights is pre-empted by the California state law," Devine said of the city.
The Long Beach medical marijuana collectives ban does not apply to collectives of three or fewer persons.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: presstelegram.com
Author: Eric Bradley
Contact: Info - Press-Telegram
Website: Long Beach may shut down medical marijuana shops on East Anaheim Street - Press-Telegram
