Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council gave staff direction Monday to work on a city ordinance on medical marijuana dispensaries. Councilwoman Linda Rianda asked the new city attorney for a status update on city marijuana code and possible options. Rianda said the city’s historic area had a prohibition on medical pot dispensaries, but zoning on Sutter Hill allowed it according to acting City Manager Sean Rabe. Rianda said she had some concerns and had been following related litigation in municipalities across the state. City Attorney Derek P. Cole said courts had ruled in favor of the Southern California cities of Claremont and Corona, who had prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries. He said those rulings found that state law (created by Senate Bill 420) did not affect cities’ power to regulate or prohibit dispensaries within its city limits. Cole said another ruling was expected Monday (July 19th) in Anaheim, but the decision was deferred for 30 days. He said the Anaheim verdict was expected to deliver a “definitive ruling” on the law. Cole said the legalization of marijuana in California began with the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, creating the “Compassionate Use Act,” which allowed marijuana possession of a “reasonable amount.” He said a new statewide ballot measure (Proposition 19), if successful in November, would allow a person to possess up to but not more than 1 ounce of marijuana and would allow for people to cultivate up to 25 square feet of marijuana in their residences. He said its passage would likely cause a wave of litigation, taking years to resolve. Cole said “any city cannot pass an ordinance that violates state or federal law,” and federal and state law both prohibit marijuana, but in California, medicinal marijuana is legal. He said the Obama administration has decreed that federal authorities will not prosecute people who are following their state law, such as simply using medical marijuana in California and the state attorney general is not going to get involved. Cole said there is an application for a medical marijuana dispensary pending in Sutter Creek’s planning department. Cole said the city’s code allows application for a conditional use permit to open a pot dispensary. Cole said by the letter of the law, the current city code is illegal. Rianda supported removing that code, and Councilman Tim Murphy, Mayor Gary Wooten and Councilwoman Sandy Anderson agreed. Rianda said they should have Cole draft an ordinance to remove the city code and then if the law changed in November, they could revisit the issue. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. -
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Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council gave staff direction Monday to work on a city ordinance on medical marijuana dispensaries. Councilwoman Linda Rianda asked the new city attorney for a status update on city marijuana code and possible options. Rianda said the city’s historic area had a prohibition on medical pot dispensaries, but zoning on Sutter Hill allowed it according to acting City Manager Sean Rabe. Rianda said she had some concerns and had been following related litigation in municipalities across the state. City Attorney Derek P. Cole said courts had ruled in favor of the Southern California cities of Claremont and Corona, who had prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries. He said those rulings found that state law (created by Senate Bill 420) did not affect cities’ power to regulate or prohibit dispensaries within its city limits. Cole said another ruling was expected Monday (July 19th) in Anaheim, but the decision was deferred for 30 days. He said the Anaheim verdict was expected to deliver a “definitive ruling” on the law. Cole said the legalization of marijuana in California began with the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, creating the “Compassionate Use Act,” which allowed marijuana possession of a “reasonable amount.” He said a new statewide ballot measure (Proposition 19), if successful in November, would allow a person to possess up to but not more than 1 ounce of marijuana and would allow for people to cultivate up to 25 square feet of marijuana in their residences. He said its passage would likely cause a wave of litigation, taking years to resolve. Cole said “any city cannot pass an ordinance that violates state or federal law,” and federal and state law both prohibit marijuana, but in California, medicinal marijuana is legal. He said the Obama administration has decreed that federal authorities will not prosecute people who are following their state law, such as simply using medical marijuana in California and the state attorney general is not going to get involved. Cole said there is an application for a medical marijuana dispensary pending in Sutter Creek’s planning department. Cole said the city’s code allows application for a conditional use permit to open a pot dispensary. Cole said by the letter of the law, the current city code is illegal. Rianda supported removing that code, and Councilman Tim Murphy, Mayor Gary Wooten and Councilwoman Sandy Anderson agreed. Rianda said they should have Cole draft an ordinance to remove the city code and then if the law changed in November, they could revisit the issue. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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