Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 Source: Sun, The (Yuma, AZ) Copyright: 2011 The Sun Contact: http://www.yumasun.com/sections/opinion/submit-letters/ Website: http://www.yumasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1258 Author: Richard Romero, Sun Staff Writer BOS TO ADDRESS MEDICAL MARIJUANA AT MONDAY MEETING The Yuma County Board of Supervisors is slated to hear about the medical marijuana law that was voted upon during the November election at its March 21 meeting. "A lot of people are talking about it and asking questions about it," County Administrator Robert Pickels said in an interview with the Sun. According to Pickels the board will discuss and possibly take action on an amendment to the Yuma County Zoning Ordinance. "The only regulatory authority that counties and cities have is through the zoning ordinances," Pickels said. According to Pickels, this means that cities and counties have the ability to designate where in the community dispensaries can be located. Pickels said at the meeting the board will try to take advantage of that regulatory authority and ensure that the dispensaries are in areas where their use is compatible with other similar type uses. "The key with either a city ordinance or a county ordinance is making sure the dispensaries are in areas where they have compatible uses," Pickels said. "We're exercising our authority to regulate the location of the dispensaries." If passed, Pickels said the regulatory power would be finalized after a 30 day referendum period. Pickels said so far there have been no applications for dispensaries. "I think that we probably won't see any until the final regulations from the Arizona Department of Health Services are put out, which is the 1st of April," he said. According to Pickels, until regulations are in place there is no ability for dispensaries to move forward. Another issue that the BOS will face is one that involves the Arizona Department of Transportation's attempt to redirect available resources. "They're looking at projects that are not construction ready," Pickels said. "They're looking at the Highway 95 improvement project as being one that is not ready for construction and so it's been targeted for a sweep of funding." Pickels said due to tourist and business traffic, Yuma cannot afford for this to happen. "We need to have this improvement project done. We can't have ADOT looking to raid those funds and divert them elsewhere," Pickels said. Earlier this week, the Yuma City Council signed a resolution opposing the funding sweep. The Supervisors' meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. at 198 S. Main St. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.