Chico OKs dispensary rules on split council vote

 Dispensaries
Jul 062011
 

A letter from the Department of Justice stating its concern for Chico’s medical marijuana plan did not stop the City Council from passing the ordinance Tuesday. Council members voted 4-3 to adopt the ordinance that would allow two dispensaries of 10,000 square feet or less each to open in the city. The dispensaries would have to go through a public hearing process and get approval from council, Katy Sweeny reports in the Chico Enterprise-Record. Mayor Ann Schwab and Councilmen Bob Evans and Mark Sorensen dissented. Councilman Scott Gruendl said his yes vote does not support [...]

Feds weigh in on Chico dispensary ordinance

 Dispensaries
Jul 052011
 

CHICO — The federal government has notified the city of Chico of concerns about a medical marijuana ordinance on the City Council agenda tonight. The measure would allow two dispensaries in town, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. The council would issue permits for the operations after public hearings. The measure is on the “consent agenda,” which is a collection of non-controversial items that are approved on a single vote of the council. However items can be pulled from that portion of the agenda for further discussion. That may happen in light of a letter to Mayor [...]

Long Beach police seek clues to slaying in Chico

 Crime
Jun 282011
 
Long Beach police seek clues to slaying in Chico

Long Beach detectives investigating the death of a 29-year-old Los Angeles man gunned down in an alley in the downtown area last March are taking their search for the killer to the Northern California town of Chico. That is because the victim, Philip Victor Williamson, was a distributor of marijuana grown in the Chico area and shipped to various medical marijuana collectives throughout Los Angeles County, and that may have played a part in the killer’s motive, said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman. LBPD began its investigation into the slaying of Williamson [...]

Petition puts Butte County cultivation law on hold

 Ordinances
Jun 242011
 

OROVILLE — Butte County’s much-discussed and hotly debated marijuana cultivation ordinance is on hold. The ordinance that was supposed to go into effect today was suspended when supporters of a referendum aimed at blocking the measure delivered petitions containing 12,308 signatures to the county Elections Office, Roger H. Aylworth reports in the Chico Enterprise-Record. The submission of the petitions put the ordinance on hold while the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office reviews the petition to determine if they include the minimum 7,605 valid signatures necessary to move the referendum ahead. CalNORML press release Andrew Merkel, president of [...]

3 charged in connection with 2010 Butte County raids

 Law Enforcement
Jun 242011
 

The first charges have been filed against one of the Butte County medical marijuana dispensaries raided in June 2010. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced Wednesday that three Forest Ranch residents have been arrested on three felony counts of sales of marijuana and one count of possession for sale of marijuana, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. Jason Allen Anderson, 35; Michael Franklin Anderson, 46; and Kaitlin Christine Sanchez, 23, operated the Mountainside Patient Collective at 3330 Highway 32 west of Chico. The Anderson brothers are also charged with cultivation and possession for sale of marijuana, [...]

Chico police chief outlines MMJ enforcement strategy

 Law Enforcement
Jun 172011
 

If approved by the Chico City Council in July, a medical marijuana ordinance will go into effect Aug. 5, allowing pot to be grown and processed in small quantities for personal medicinal use. At a community meeting in south Chico Wednesday night, Police Chief Mike Maloney outlined what the city’s response will be to handling medical marijuana issues, Greg Welter reports in the Chico Enterprise-Record. “First, the Police Department will attempt to assign the enforcement of most marijuana rules to other agencies,” Maloney said. He explained the proposed ordinance is more of a land-use issue [...]

Chico dispensary ordinance passes first reading

 Dispensaries
Jun 102011
 

Somehow the Chico City Council’s discussion Tuesday night of a medical-marijuana ordinance came down to a debate over “baby steps.” At issue was whether the number of dispensaries should be limited to two, as several council members preferred, or be determined by the land-use restrictions governing their location, which could ultimately allow several dispensaries. CN&R editorial: A flawed pot ordinance To Councilwoman Mary Flynn, who preferred the former, it was a matter of taking “baby steps” at first. “This is something we’ve never done before,” she said. “My inclination is to start small.” She said [...]

Paradise working on draft cultivation ordinance

 Ordinances
May 252011
 

A committee at Town Hall has proposed a draft ordinance that would restrict medical marijuana cultivation, processing and distribution in the Town of Paradise. The ordinance could become effective as soon as September of this year if the Paradise Planning Commission approves it June 2 before sending it to the Paradise Town Council in July. The town is now under an emergency ordinance prohibiting cooperative medical marijuana cultivation, processing and distribution until Jan. 11, 2012. Town Community Development Director Craig Baker said the draft ordinance likely will change shape before it is finally adopted, Paul [...]

Butte County to enact strict medipot growing rules

 Pot-pourri
May 202011
 

It was a sunny day in Forest Ranch, perfect for some outdoor gardening, and a crew of eight men was tending to a fenced-in piece of land about a third of an acre in size. A guy in his early 20s named Jack fired up a weed whacker and carefully set to manicuring the grass between several rows of raised-bed planters. “If I didn’t have the co-op to get my medicine, I don’t know how I’d get it. It’s really unsafe trying to get it on the street. You can get busted doing that,” he [...]

Butte County MMJ cultivation hearing draws hundreds

 Ordinances
May 052011
 

CHICO — A preliminary decision on a proposed Butte County marijuana cultivation ordinance was passed on a split vote while members of the audience jeered, booed and shouted “recall.” After an all but unprecedented night meeting in Chico Wednesday, the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted four in favor, with one opposed, on a proposed ordinance that would prohibit the growing on any lot of half-an-acre or smaller, and would also ban any garden on any size parcel within 1,000 feet of a church, school, park, school bus stop, residential drug treatment facility and some [...]

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