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Gov. John Kitzhaber signed House Bill 3460 into law on Aug. 14, authorizing the Oregon Health Authority to establish procedures to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Those regulations go into effect on March 1, 2014, and have specific requirements for licensing, locating and operating medical marijuana dispensaries. The subject of whether and how the city should regulate, license, and/or otherwise control or prohibit the location of medical marijuana dispensaries was discussed by the City Council at a work session last month.
The city has not yet received any applications for medical marijuana dispensaries, but it is anticipated that such applications could be received after the March 1, 2014, effective date of House Bill 3460 and its implementing regulations, said City Manager Matt Winkel. Some cities control them under their business license program, many of which prohibit anything that is illegal under either state or federal law.
"So, since marijuana dispensaries are still illegal under federal law, those cities maintain they would not allow them since they would not be able to obtain a business license," Winkel said. "The city of Bandon, however, does not require business licenses, so that avenue is not available here." But, Winkel said, depending on one's interpretation of Bandon's existing zoning ordinance, medical marijuana dispensaries could conceivably be allowed in some of the city's residential zones as well as the commercial zones.
For example, the R-1 and R-2 residential zones list as conditional uses drugstores, provided that they are "primarily for the sale of drugs." Several other zones allow such uses as "health care service facilities" or "medical, dental or related office or clinic." "Although the drafters of those older regulations probably did not intend medical marijuana dispensaries, proposers could argue that those uses are allowed according to the letter of the law," Winkel said. After discussing the subject, the consensus of the City Council was to have staff prepare an amendment to the zoning regulations that would eliminate the ambiguous wording, prepare an ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries inside the city limits, and bring those potential regulatory changes back for review and consideration by the council at a future meeting. No date has yet been set.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Theworldlink.com
Author: Bandon Western World
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana dispensaries in Bandon? : Bandon
The city has not yet received any applications for medical marijuana dispensaries, but it is anticipated that such applications could be received after the March 1, 2014, effective date of House Bill 3460 and its implementing regulations, said City Manager Matt Winkel. Some cities control them under their business license program, many of which prohibit anything that is illegal under either state or federal law.
"So, since marijuana dispensaries are still illegal under federal law, those cities maintain they would not allow them since they would not be able to obtain a business license," Winkel said. "The city of Bandon, however, does not require business licenses, so that avenue is not available here." But, Winkel said, depending on one's interpretation of Bandon's existing zoning ordinance, medical marijuana dispensaries could conceivably be allowed in some of the city's residential zones as well as the commercial zones.
For example, the R-1 and R-2 residential zones list as conditional uses drugstores, provided that they are "primarily for the sale of drugs." Several other zones allow such uses as "health care service facilities" or "medical, dental or related office or clinic." "Although the drafters of those older regulations probably did not intend medical marijuana dispensaries, proposers could argue that those uses are allowed according to the letter of the law," Winkel said. After discussing the subject, the consensus of the City Council was to have staff prepare an amendment to the zoning regulations that would eliminate the ambiguous wording, prepare an ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries inside the city limits, and bring those potential regulatory changes back for review and consideration by the council at a future meeting. No date has yet been set.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Theworldlink.com
Author: Bandon Western World
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana dispensaries in Bandon? : Bandon
