Pot times July 16, 2005

Pleasanton May Nix Cannabis Clubs

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1122/a09.html
Newshawk: Herb

Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jul 2005
Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Knight Ridder
Contact: letters@cctimes.com
Website: http://www.contracostatimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96
Author: Chris Metinko
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

PLEASANTON MAY NIX CANNABIS CLUBS

PLEASANTON - Any medical marijuana dispensary hoping to one day open up in this city may soon see such dreams go up in smoke.

When it meets Tuesday night, the Pleasanton City Council will consider adopting an urgency ordinance to impose a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.  The city already has received at least one inquiry regarding establishing a dispensary in Pleasanton, as have the Tri-Valley cities of Danville and Livermore.

Such a moratorium is seen as necessary by the city because many other local cities, and even Alameda County, have approved similar ordinances.  That, Pleasanton officials believe, could make it easier for one to start up in a city without such a moratorium.

According to the staff report prepared for the City Council, a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries also is essential because such providers pose a "current and immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare."

Currently, Pleasanton does not define or regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, either through a police permitting process or through land-use regulations.  It was because of such a loophole that the MariCare dispensary was allowed to quietly open in Concord at the beginning of the year.

The battle over medical marijuana dispensaries recently heated up as the U.S.  Supreme Court issued an opinion that federal marijuana laws could be enforced, despite California's law allowing for personal medical use.  In California, Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, allows a person to use marijuana for medical purposes if approved by a doctor.

Other local Bay Area governing bodies have already adopted such interim regulation ordinances.  Pleasant Hill, Fremont, San Leandro, San Pablo, Emeryville, Alameda County and the city and county of San Francisco approved similar moratoriums in the last year; Berkeley adopted a zoning ordinance to limit the number of dispensaries to the three already existing there.

According to Pleasanton Police Chief Tim Neal, Dublin also is considering a moratorium on dispensaries, and all the Tri-Valley police chiefs are pushing for all their cities to approve such bans.

If approved, Pleasanton will study several issues surrounding medical marijuana dispensaries, including whether the city can approve and regulate uses currently illegal under federal law; procedures and ordinances other jurisdictions have adopted concerning dispensaries; and what kind of permitting process and other ordinances should be adopted by Pleasanton concerning such dispensaries.

Such moratoriums can be extended twice.  The first extension would give the city an additional 10 months and 15 days to study the issue, while the second extension grants another year for the moratorium.  A four-fifths vote is needed to approve such a moratorium and any extensions.

In other city business, the council Tuesday night also is expected to:

* Review a plan by Charles Schwab & Co.  Inc.  to demolish an existing vacant 8,500-square-foot bar/restaurant building on Stoneridge Mall Road on the Pleasanton Corporate Commons campus.  The building most recently housed Masse's Sports Bar.

* Give approval for development of phase one of the Bernal Community Park sports fields on a 13-acre site located south of Bernal Avenue and east of Valley Avenue.

* Hear an appeal by neighbors who oppose expansion plan by St.  Clare's Episcopal Church on Hopyard Road.  Some neighbors feel the proposed expansion, including building new administrative offices of approximately 5,000 square feet, would have negative impacts on their neighborhood.

* Consider supporting the approval of Creekside Memorial Park, a new cemetery at 7000 Camino Tassajara near the Contra Costa/Alameda county line.

The Pleasanton City Council will meet in public session at 7 p.m.  Tuesday in the City Council Chamber, 200 Old Bernal Ave.