Ordinance No. 850 - Medical Marijuana DispensariesORDINANCE NO. 850
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD,
CALIFORNIA, MAKING FINDINGS AND EXTENDING A l
TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ESTABLISHMENT I
AND OPERATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
DISPENSARIES
THE, CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA, DOES
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings
A. In 1996, the voters of the State of California approved Proposition 215,
which was codified as Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5, et seq., and entitled
the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 ("the Act"); and
B. The intent of Proposition 215 was to enable persons who are in need of
medical marijuana for medical purposes to obtain and use it under limited, specified
circumstances; and
C. In 2003 the.Legislature enacted Health and Safety Code section 11362.7
et seq., entitled "Medical Marijuana Program" (hereinafter "the Program") requiring the
State Department of Health Services to "establish a program for the issuance of
identification cards to qualified patients and to establish protocols to be used by
counties to process applications for and issue identification cards; and
r D. The State Department of Health Services has not enacted regulations
establishing the Program; and
E. Some argue that the Use Act and the Program imply that local agencies
may allow medical marijuana dispensaries to be established, despite the possibility that
dispensing marijuana at such businesses may violated federal law; and
F. At least one recent court has indicated that the Program allows patients
and primary caregivers to collectively or cooperatively cultivate marijuana for medical
purposes; and
G. The Rosemead Municipal Code, including the Rosemead Zoning Map,
does not specifically address or regulate the existence or location of medical marijuana
dispensaries; and
H. After receiving inquiries from persons interested in establishing medical
marijuana dispensaries, numerous other cities in the State of California have adopted
ordinances prohibiting or heavily regulating such dispensaries; and
1. Because a significant number of cities have prohibited or heavily regulated
medical marijuana dispensaries, there is a substantially increased likelihood that such
establishments will seek to locate in the City of Rosemead which currently does not
have any regulations; and
J. A medical marijuana dispensary is currently seeking to locate to the City of
Rosemead; and
K. Reports from jurisdictions with medical marijuana dispensaries indicate
that such businesses have deleterious secondary effects such as: public smoking of
• marijuana around the facility; marijuana related DUls by people who have obtained
marijuana from the facilities; robbery and burglary attempts; negative impacts on
neighboring businesses; unethical doctors who will authorize the use of marijuana for a
fee; and attraction of a criminal element; and
L. In June 2005, the United States Supreme Court held that the federal
Controlled Substances Act; which prohibits the possession of marijuana for personal
use may be enforced despite the Act; and
M. To address the community and statewide concerns regarding the
establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, because the state has not yet
adopted regulations for the Program, it is necessary for the City of Rosemead to study
the potential impacts such facilities may have on the public health, safety, and welfare
and the potential conflict between federal and State law; and
• N. Based on the foregoing, the City Council finds that issuing permits,
business licenses, or other applicable entitlements providing for the establishment
and/or operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, prior to, (1) the City's completion of
its study of the potential impact of such facilities; and (2) resolving any zoning conflicts
based on the fact that no zoning currently exists in the City for such dispensaries, would
pose a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, and that a
temporary moratorium on the issuance of such permits, licenses, and entitlements is
thus necessary.
0. Based on the foregoing on January 23, 2007 the City Council adopted
Ordinance 849 establishing a forty-five (45) day moratorium on the establishment and
operation of medical marijuana dispensaries and said urgency moratorium will expire on
March 9, 2007.
SECTION 2. Imposition of Moratorium
A. In accordance with the authority granted to the City of Rosemead under
Government Code Section 65858, from and after the date of this ordinance, no use
permit, variance, building permit, business license, or other applicable entitlement for
use shall be approved or issued for the establishment or operation of a medical
marijuana dispensary and no such facility shall operate within the City of Rosemead.
B. For purposes of this ordinance, the term "medical marijuana dispensary"
shall mean any site, facility, location, use, cooperative, or business that distributes,
dispenses, stores, sells, exchanges, processes, delivers, gives away, or cultivates,
marijuana for medical purposes to qualified patients, health care providers, patients'
primary caregivers, or physicians, pursuant to Health and Safety Code ection 11362.5,
Health and Safety Code section 11362.7 et seq., or any state regulations, programs or
protocols adopted in furtherance thereof.
• C. For purposes of this ordinance, a medical marijuana dispensary shall not
include the following uses, as long as the location of such uses is otherwise regulated
by applicable law and as long as such use complies strictly with applicable law,
including, but not limited to, Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 et seq.: (1) a
clinic, licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; (2) a
health care facility, licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety
Code; (3) a residential care facility for persons with chronic life-threatening illness,
licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.01 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; (4) a
residential care facility for the elderly, licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.2 of Division 2 of
the Health and Safety Code; or (5) a residential hospice or home health agency,
licensed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Health and Safety Code.
D. This ordinance is adopted pursuant to the authority granted to the City of
Rosemead by Government Code Section 65858, and is for the immediate preservation
• of the public health, safety, and welfare. The facts constituting the urgency are
articulated in Section 1 above.
SECTION 3. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act
The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not
result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment)
and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as identified in Section 15378) of the CEQA
Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no
potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; it
prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of the contemplated
municipal code review.
SECTION 4. Severability
if any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this ordinance is
for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of
competent jurisdiction or preempted by state legislation, such decision or legislation
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council
of the City of Rosemead hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and
each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or
unconstitutional without regard to any such decision or preemptive legislation.
SECTION 5. Effective Date
This ordinance shall become effective upon adoption if adopted by at least a
four-fifths (4/5) vote of the City Council and shall be in effect for.ten (10) months, fifteen
• (15) days from March 9, 2007 unless a new ordinance is adopted before this expiration
date by the Council regulating such uses as provided for in the Government Code.
SECTION 6. State Law
This interim ordinance shall in no way limit the right to possess, use, or cultivate
marijuana for medicinal purposes as is presently authorized by the laws of the State of
California.as set forth in the Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 7. Federal Law
Medical marijuana users in California may be subject to federal. prosecution
under existing federal law.
•
SECTION 8. Publication
The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance and
shall cause the same to be published in accordance with law.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at this 27th day of Feburary 2007 by the
following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
Mayof ity oof- Ro ead
• ATTEST:
k-lwa
City Clerk, City of Rosemead
0
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS.
CITY OF ROSEMEAD )
I, Nina Castruita, City Clerk of the City of Rosemead, do hereby certify that
Ordinance No. 850 was duly and regularly approved and adopted by the Rosemead City
Council on the 27th of February, 2007, by the following vote to wit:
• Yes: CLARK, IMPERIAL, NUNEZ, TAYLOR, TRAN
No: NONE
Absent: NONE
Abstain: NONE
VAMOL
Nina Castruita
City Clerk
0