Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jul 2010
Source: Times-Herald, The (Vallejo, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Times-Herald
Contact:  http://www.timesheraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/993
Author: Jessica A. York

EMBATTLED VALLEJO MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLINIC FACES EVICTION

In the midst of a court battle with the city of Vallejo over alleged
illegal operations, a local medical marijuana dispensary has been
evicted by its landlord, the landlord's attorney said Thursday.

Stan the Man Collective founder Ken Estes, who was recently named in
the city lawsuit against the dispensary, said he will wait out the
eviction, attorney Tom Porta told a Solano County Superior Court
judge. The group is required to depart Aug. 13.

"We have other locations we can move to ... and other cooperatives we
can send people to, if we have to," said Estes, who estimated it will
take only a day to pack up the dispensary.

Estes alleges the dispensary's landlord seemed happy to have the
collective paying regular rent for an out-of-the-way Warren Avenue
site, which is across the street from a cemetery. He hopes she will
reconsider the eviction, if his efforts to bring the Vallejo City
Council on board are successful.

To this end, Estes said he recently distributed copies of a medical
marijuana dispensary ordinance still pending before the Richmond City
Council to Vallejo council members. He claimed involvement in the
ordinance's development, although the Richmond city attorney's office
could not immediately confirm this Thursday.

Solano Judge Ramona Garrett was set Thursday afternoon to consider
closing down the Stan the Man dispensary for the length of the city's
lawsuit, but delayed a decision after the city added new defendants to
its lawsuit. She also directed defense attorneys to explain how their
case differed from other successful prosecutions of unlawful municipal
business operations cited by the city.

One man, named as the Warren Avenue site's property owner, may be
removed from the lawsuit in exchange for landlord Ramia Dib, if the
incorrect ownership has been established, Vallejo Deputy City Attorney
Alan Cohen told the court.

Dib's attorney, Tom Porta, said Dib is not the property owner, that
the land actually belongs to a limited liability corporation.

A status conference hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Aug. 5. 
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