LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night held an initial discussion on a proposal for a new medical marijuana dispensaries ordinance, with the matter to be continued later this month.
The discussion was part of a special evening meeting that lasted about an hour and a half.
The board chose to continue the discussion at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 22, after Supervisor Jim Comstock left early to assist with south county evacuations due to the Butts Fire.
Community Development Director Rick Coel, accompanied by Deputy County Counsel Shanda Harry, presented the draft dispensaries ordinance to the board.
He said that staff believed that the board first needed to decide how many dispensaries should be allowed countywide – his written report to the board pointed out that Alameda County has a total of three – and then decide on locations.
County staff provided maps with a number of locations that were near public transit and dispersed around the county's communities.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he wanted to start out with a conservative and responsible number, suggesting three.
Comstock questioned why the county was considering allowing dispensaries when other areas are banning them.
The board heard from a number of community members who insisted that dispensaries are needed, that they offer services patients cannot do for themselves and that the board needed to not put any limits on how many dispensaries could be located in the unincorporated county.
On the other side of the issue, there were county residents who wanted restrictions.
Middletown resident Fletcher Thornton said the board was on “the right track” in starting with a low number. “If we start low then we can add slowly if we need to,” he said.
Thornton added, “In Middletown we're going to be watching it like a hawk,” noting that they wanted dispensaries 1,000 feet or more – not 600 feet – from local schools.
Many of the issues that had existed with dispensaries previously, said Coel, had to do with the operators themselves.
Before the dispensaries in the unincorporated county were closed in early 2012, Coel said there had been some dispensary operators trying to do the right thing, keep their operations low key and work with the county.
Others were “bad neighbors,” he said, operating in blatant disregard to setbacks from schools and residences.
Thomas Wall criticized the county and the ordinance, saying he wanted to offer a medical marijuana delivery service, but there was no room for that in the ordinance. “I think this ordinance is whacked.”
Comstock at that point left to assist with the evacuations.
Lower Lake resident Daniel McClain, who has been active in the efforts to put in place local marijuana rules – including being a proponent of a new cultivation ordinance to go on the November ballot – said he felt the onsite limit for clones, 100, was too low.
Lakeport resident Greg Scott noted of the dispensary issue, “There’s a lot of anger,” and he thanked the board for its leadership on the subject.
Jon Hanson, who had owned MJ's Place, a dispensary in Upper Lake, thanked the board for opening the discussion, and asked for a limit of five, not three.
Following public input, Brown told his board colleagues, “We have to be realistic about what we’re going to try to get done here.”
He felt the limit of three dispensaries in the unincorporated county was a good starting compromise. He said he had listened to his community and that impacted his stance.
Some previous dispensary operators had been bad but, Brown added, he knew of at least one who ran a very responsible business.
Supervisor Jeff Smith pointed out that his district already has three dispensaries. That's because his district includes the city of Clearlake, where dispensaries are allowed.
Brown said people in his district have said they don't want dispensaries there, and he wanted the board to respect that, noting it's up to the communities to decide.
Board Chair Denise Rushing said that “legitimate dispensaries weren't the issue” the last time around.
Rather, it was issues related to cultivation and dispensaries that were fronts for other activities.
The discussion will continue July 22.
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