Pubdate: Fri, 11 Dec 2009
Source: San Mateo County Times, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Bay Area News Group
Contact:  http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/392
Author: Neil Gonzales
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO EXTENDS MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY
BAN

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO - A moratorium on the establishment of medical
marijuana dispensaries is being extended so city leaders have more
time to study and possibly draw up stricter rules for such operations.

"I support medical marijuana," City Councilmember Karyl Matsumoto
said, "but we don't want to become a mecca for marijuana collectives.
If our neighbors ban these collectives, everyone will be coming to
South San Francisco."

On Wednesday night, Matsumoto and her council colleagues approved
extending the temporary ban another 10 months after they agreed in
late October on the original 45-day moratorium on issuing permits to
dispensaries.

The extended moratorium puts the opening of the newly formed medical
marijuana collective Island of Health in limbo. The collective would
be the first in the city.

"We believe we need more time," Mayor Mark Addiego said. "We really
want to look at everything before we make a commitment."

The council consensus seems to be not to ban dispensaries outright but
to work in additional restrictions on them.

The current ordinance adopted in 2006 requires collectives to be in an
industrial zone at least 500 feet away from residences, to treat only
qualified patients, to have a list of patients available and to meet
other conditions.

The ordinance was a response to the 1996 state initiative Proposition
215, which legalized medical marijuana.

A beefed-up ordinance could include a limit on the number of
collectives, a requirement to install outside surveillance cameras and
additional background checks, city leaders said.

Councilman Pedro Gonzalez, however, would prefer a complete
ban.

"I'd like to have another type of business that's less risky,"
Gonzalez said, arguing that the presence of a collective would
contribute to increased crime.

Under local and state rules, Island of Health won a permit from the
city Planning Commission to operate at 175 Utah Ave.

But neighboring businesses filed an appeal, contending that allowing
the collective would go against federal law and lead to other problems.

The council tabled the appeal case until city staff returns with a
recommendation about a possible revised medical-marijuana ordinance.

Scot Candell, a San Rafael-based attorney representing Island of
Health, could not be reached for comment.

But Candell previously argued that the council should exempt the
collective from a moratorium because his client secured its permit a
few weeks before the ban.

"This collective did everything by the rules and already spent $40,000
on this process," Candell had said. "It doesn't seem fair that they
shouldn't be able to operate."

Candell also has pointed out that the courts allow for collectives and
dismissed arguments that dispensaries result in a rise in crime.

But the council voted for the moratorium in light of a recent
appellate court case upholding such a ban in the Southern California
city of Claremont.

South San Francisco has interpreted that ruling to mean cities don't
have to permit dispensaries as part of their land-use planning,
Assistant City Manager Marty Van Duyn said.

City leaders have incorporated the medical pot issues in their effort
to update zoning laws.

The city may be able to resolve those issues long before the
moratorium expires because the zoning work could be finalized in the
spring, Van Duyn said. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D