Planning Commission to Consider Banning Pot
Pharmacies in City
• Operating Restrictions Are an Option
As soon as new members of the City of
Malibu Planning Commission—Jeff Jennings,
John Mazza and Ed Gillespie—are sworn in on June 3, they
and copanelists Regan Schaar and Joan House will have to
decide whether the city should ban pot pharmacies within its
boundaries.
Originally, city officials, after enacting
a moratorium, indicated they would change the zoning, or
establish some kind of special zoning for the medical marijuana
dispensaries, but the staff report contends there is a litany
of complaints about dispensaries in other cities and recommends
an outright ban.
The report offers no evidence of what has
happened in Malibu since two dispensaries have been operating
for the several years, but cites how other cities have
encountered problems and what they have done. Some have set up
special zoning, restricting dispensaries from residential
areas, schools, community facilities or similar
land uses.
The report states some of the alleged
problems such as noise and traffic congestion could cause an
increase in costs to the city, but does not say if such costs
have been incurred by Malibu.
The staff report does offer an alterative
to an outright ban on the pot pharmacies by suggesting the
adoption of operating restrictions “that can mitigate and
control secondary impacts that these businesses
cause.”
The report, written by contract planner
Kathleen Mallory and Assistant City Attorney Lauren
Feldman, noted the commission could choose to recommend the
adoption of such standards to the city council.
The report acknowledges that medical
marijuana dispensaries are potentially a permitted use of land,
subject to a use determination by the planning commission,
similar to businesses that would dispense medicines, such as a
medical clinic, pharmacy or drug store.
“Within a use determination,
dispensaries could be permitted if they met minimum parking and
development standards. There is no requirement for a
conditional use permit,” the report adds.
A law firm representing PCH Collective,
through written correspondence, is urging the planning
commission to adopt a resolution “specifically approving
the strictly regulated operation of one medical marijuana
dispensary in the City of Malibu until current disputes between
the state of California and the Federal Drug Enforcement
Agency are resolved and to continue the existing moratorium and
allow the operation of existing dispensaries in the City of
Malibu until the adoption of an ordinance governing the
operation of dispensaries within the City of Malibu.”
The Collective was the first store
operating in the city limits and started business in Malibu on
March 30, 2006. It has subsequently moved to a new location.
Later, a second dispensary opened up.
Roger Browning of Glassman, Browning,
Saltsman & Jacobs points out that both City Attorney
Christi Hogin and at the time Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Jennings both
said the interest was in what to do about future dispensaries
and that the moratorium would not apply to existing pot
pharmacies.
That apparently changed recently when PCH
Collective received a notice of violation
demanding it cease business.
The city received a letter from one client,
who praised “the folks at Green Angel,” calling
them a godsend for providing him and others with
medication.
“I am 48 years old and I use medical
marijuana because of a congenital arithritic condition I have,
my spine is fused from my neck to my tailbone. MMJ has enabled
me to cut down on my arthritis meds with the awful
gastro-intestinal side effects, exponentially and curtail my
need for the strong painkiller Vicodan. I medicate at home
only with MMJ,” wrote Santa Monica resident Michael
Alexaki, who said he comes to Malibu for his medicine and makes
a day of it. “I have never seen any illegal activity
around Green Angel.”
Another client, who did not wish to give
out his name for publication, said he had never heard of any
problems encountered near or around the pot pharmacies and
wondered why the city had not provided any evidence of
problems, but merely cited alleged problems in other cities.
“I don’t want to have to drive
into town to get my medicine,” he complained. “So
what is the big deal?”
