City Council Public Hearing Subject:

CITY COUNCILPUBLIC HEARINGNOVEMBER 2.2009SUBJECT:AMENDMENT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCEREGARDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA COLLECTIVESINITIATED BY: DEPARTMENT OFJoan Engllsh

(Assistant

Llsa Marie Belsanti (SenlorCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTAnne Browning Mclntosh (Community DevelopmeJohn Keho

(Planning

Manager)Laurie Yelton

(Associate

Planner)DEPARTMENT OF PUBOscar Delgado

(Director)

Jeff Aubel (Commercial Code Compliance ManagerSTATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT:The Clty Council will consider a C~ty-initiated one Text Amendment to changemedical marijuana collect~vesrom a conditionally permitted use to a

permitted

use in certain commercial zones subject to specified restrictions and consideramend~nghe municipal code and adoption of a negat~ve

eclaration

RECOMMENDATION:Introduce on first reading Ordinance No. 09-p "AN ORDINANCE OF THEClTY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD, AMENDING THE WEST HOLLYWOODMUNICIPAL CODE AND ADOPTION OF A NEGATIVE DECLARATION ANDAPPROVAL OF ZONE TEXT AMENDMENT 2009--, TO CHANGE MEDICALMARIJUANA COLLECTIVES FROM A CONDITIONALLY PERMITTED USE TOA PERMITTED USE IN CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ZONES SUBJECT TOSPECIFIED RESTRICTIONS. REQUIRING SUCH COLLECTIVES TO OBTAINA REGULATORY BUSINESS LICENSE." (Attachment A)BACKGROUND,In November, 1996, California voters enacted Proposition 215, called "TheCompassionate Use Act of 1996

"

The Act set forth the circumstances underwhich marijuana may be prescribed,dispensedand used for medicinal purposesIn California as an exception to the laws proh~bitinghe sale and use ofmarijuana.AGENDA ITEM

3.c

Several years ago, the City experienced a proliferation of medical marijuanacollectives throughout the City's commercial zones. As with many of the City'scommercial uses, several mebical marijuana collectives were esiablished in-close proximity to residentially zoned properties and sensitive land uses, such asschools, parks and places of religious worship Consequently, the City Counciltook a number of actions to limit the impact of medical marijuana collectives onthe community and it has adopted regulations governing the location andoperation of the facilitiesThe City, as did most cities, initially decided to regulate collectives through adiscretionary land use process;

I

e. by requiring a conditional use permit. Nowthat we have had some experience with the regulatory experience, staff believesthat there are some disadvantages to this approach. For example, a conditionaluse permit (CUP) runs with the land, meaning that once the CUP is issued for aparticular property, the use becomes vested, regardless of the ownership of thecollective. Staff believes it is undesirable to create such a right in any particularlocationBusiness licensing offers the City more regulatory tools to address the types ofconcerns that the collectives raise, but would not sacrifice any of therequirements that are currently in place through zoning regulation, indeed, aslong as the City maintains

a

cap on the number of collectives and locationrequirements that limit the possible locations for establishment of new collectives,the removal of the CUP requirement will have no real practical effectThis summer, the City Council directed staff to bring forward a business licenseordinance (Attachment A) that would regulate medical marijuana collectives withthe same requirements currently in the zoning code and to eliminate theregulations in the Zoning Ordinance. The Council also required that the newordinance contain language that addressed the cultivation of marijuana and arequirement that each collective have a compassion program for qualifyingpatientsStaff convened a meeting with the four permitted collectives to review theframework for the new regulations. At that meeting the collectives were insupport of the following requirements of the new regulations:Require criminal background checks on collective operatorsChange the nomenclature from medical marijuana "dispensary" to"collective"Require that collectives be organized as a nonprofit and be in compliancewith Proposition 215, California Health

&

Safety Code Section 11362

7

and California State Attorney General Guidelines for marijuana grown formedical useEstablish a limit on the total square footage of a collective; not to exceed

4,500

square feet

Allow the on-site cultivation of marijuanaEstablish a cap on the square footage allowed for on-site cultrvation; nomore than twenty-five percent (25%), but in no case more than 1,500square feet nor greater than ten feet in height.Retain the numerical limit; no more than four collectives within theboundaries of West HollywoodMaintain the location criteria, collectives shall not be established within500 feet of sensitive land uses and within 1000 feet of another collectivewithin or outside the boundaries of West HollywoodEstablish a uniform compassion program for West Hollywood residentsRequire collectrve operators to participate in regular meetings with CityStaff and West Hollywood Sheriffs DepartmentAmending the zoning ordinance and regulating medical marrjuana collectrvesunder business licensing is a more effective approach. Not only does theproposed ordinance incorporate all of the existing regulations it adds a number ofother requirements making it a tighter and more restrictive ordinance. Theproposed ordinance provides stringent adherence to existing state law in additionto the guidelrnes set forth by the State Attorney General.In August, the District Attorney and the Sheriff of Los Angeles County jointly senta cautionary letter to cities warning that, 'We have come to the conclusion thatover-the-counter sales of marijuana are patently rllegal under state and federallaw." (Attachment B) The letter fails to take account of the comprehensive andthorough approach West Hollywood has taken since the passage of Proposition215 to provide safe access to treatment that is determined medically necessaryby patients and their physicians. West Hollywood has worked closely wrth theSheriffs Department on this ordinance and it is not anticipated that there will beany law enforcement issues with the collectives that are licensed under theordinance. While there may be a "marijuana dispensary proliferationphenomenon in Los Angeles County", it is not occurring within the jurisdiction ofWest Hollywood.CURRENT MEDICAL MARIJUANA COLLECTIVES:At present, there are four permitted medical marijuana collectives located withinthe City of West Hollywood (Attachment C). However, only one of these fourcollect~ves omplies with the location requirements.

LA

Patients

&

Caregivers Group*

1

7213 Santa Monica Boulevard

only this location complies with location requirement

Medical Marijuana Farmacy

1

7825 Santa Monica BoulevardAlternative Herbal Health Services1 7828 Santa Monrca BoulevardZen Healing Collective

1

8464

Santa Monica Boulevard

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