[420 Girl]

The Clearlake City Council will pick up its discussion this week in regard to the possible establishment of rules to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The item is No. 14 on Thursday night's agenda, which includes 19 items of business and two presentations.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at Clearlake City Hall.

The council will be presented with four alternatives, which were previously reviewed in January. Those alternatives include:

Prohibiting all medical marijuana dispensaries based on health and safety concerns and take legal action to close the three operating in the city today using public nuisance provisions because the operations violate the city's zoning code.

Adopt regulations in the Zoning Ordinance that would establish a cap on the number of dispensaries allowed in the city. The cap would have to be justified from a legal standpoint.

Allow dispensaries as conditional use in the city's zoning ordinance. A conditional use permit is a discretionary permit approved by the Planning Commission. Any use permit application would need to be approved or denied using consistent reasons so someone cannot argue the city discriminated against one group of applicants or operators.

Establish health and safety regulations that would comply with the provisions of the Medical Marijuana Program in the California Health & Safety Code (11362.7 to 11362.83). The regulations care givers would have to meet in part include they cannot make a profit, have to be a non-profit and it sets limits on the amount of marijuana a care giver could possess, etc.

The council could not reach a decision when the alternatives were presented in January and chose to form a committee to address the issue. The committee, which included the participation of Councilmember Joyce Overton, Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain and others including members of the public, is recommending a combination of alternatives three and four.

Specifically, the committee is recommending that medical marijuana dispensaries be regulated through the city's zoning ordinance and a use permit be required in such a way that it allows neighbors an opportunity to comment on any proposed dispensary. The committee also recommends adopting regulations that would allow dispensaries only in the C-4 zone district and prohibit dispensaries within 1,500 feet of a school, church, child care facility or group home.

Adopting regulations related to dispensaries under the Compassionate Use Act (Section 11362.5 of the Health & Safety Code) is also recommended. This consists of establishing an annual fee to fund monitoring the facilities on a yearly basis to ensure they are complying with regulations.

Finally, the committee recommends adopting regulations that would allow medical marijuana to be grown indoors only.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...pensaries.html