Whether Vallejo will have a legal medical marijuana cooperative is up in the air after a Solano County Superior Court hearing Wednesday, according to this Vallejo Times-Herald article. (See Bud’s armchair legal analysis below.)
Resident Chris Valentine, on behalf of the Vallejo Giving Tree Patients Cooperative, is suing the city. He says he was barred from his venture, despite city zoning codes not specifically banning cooperatives within city limits.
Vallejo zoning codes specify what types of retail businesses are allowed, and marijuana dispensaries are not covered, said deputy city attorney Alan Cohen.
Valentine initially sought information on the city’s business license procedure in August. According to court filings, he was provided a form letter from the Vallejo Police Department stating that medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives are not allowed in Vallejo.
“The city doesn’t have a position,” Cohen said in court Wednesday. “The city’s zoning code and business code regulate what kind of uses are allowed.”
Cohen said a city resident is now applying with the Planning Division to amend Vallejo’s zoning code to permit medical marijuana cooperatives, suggesting Valentine and his cooperative would more properly undergo that same process, rather than “barrel their way” through court.
Vallejo’s acting planning manager, Michelle Hightower, confirmed that her department was working with an applicant, adding that zoning amendments require approval from both the Planning Commission and City Council.
On Tuesday, Judge Paul Beeman tentatively ruled against the Vallejo Giving Tree Patients Cooperative’s preliminary injunction request. He said that the state’s Compassionate Use Act, providing some protections for medical marijuana users, does not bar the city from enforcing its zoning and business licensing requirements.
One of the cooperative’s attorneys, Bill Panzer, challenged Beeman’s early ruling. He argued Wednesday that the city may control what types of retail business operates in town, but not what types of groups assemble, share resources and exchange goods.
“What they’re banning is association,” Panzer said. “It’s a closed-loop system, members-only.” Beeman questioned Cohen on why the cooperative was required to ask the city’s permission to form a cooperative, comparing marijuana growth to a tomato garden.
“We haven’t prohibited anything,” Cohen said.
Beeman will issue a final ruling at a later date.
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at 707-553-6834.
====================
Bud’s uninformed, half-assed legal analysis:
From the story above: “The city doesn’t have a position,” Cohen said in court Wednesday. “The city’s zoning code and business code regulate what kind of uses are allowed.”
The quote itself sucks, from a journalistic standpoint; how can a city that “doesn’t have a position” bar medical marijuana dispensaries, as thoughtfully advertised by the Police Department?
To a sitting judge, though, Cohen’s statement could be a simple explanation that the city hasn’t taken a formal position on MM dispensaries, e.g. by banning them by moratorium and/or ordinance as many other California cities have done. However, there remains a lesser hurdle to clear in that MM dispensaries aren’t a permitted use under Vallejo’s zoning regulations; that’s why another applicant is working to amend those zoning rules. (One wonders if the local cops advertised that option with equal zeal.)
Then we come to this interesting argument advanced by one of the cooperative’s attorneys, Bill Panzer: The city may control what types of retail business operates in town, but not what types of groups assemble, share resources and exchange goods. If the Times-Herald account is accurate, he compared collective marijuana growing to a tomato garden run by a community association. I’ve heard of similar legal arguments being made elsewhere, but I haven’t heard that they’ve met with much success. If you’ve got additional information on that topic, please drop me a line..
Marijuana is great for the city..
The city may control what types of retail business operates in town but not all groups of assemble will disposed what they want to do dispose..The city’s zoning code and business code regulate what kind of uses are allowed..Great post!!