City leaders hit brakes on pot shop applications

By ERIC LINDBERG — Dec. 9, 2009

No more medical marijuana shops will open legally in Santa Barbara during the next month and a half, and presumably for a year, after city leaders unanimously passed an emergency moratorium on new and pending dispensary applications yesterday evening.

Faced with increasingly vocal opposition from some community members about the proliferation of the cannabis-dispensing operations in town, despite a set of regulations that went on the books a year and a half ago, city officials agreed to call a timeout to allow for further lawmaking to regulate the industry.

“We’ve come to a point in this matter that we need something like this to protect our community,” Councilmember Roger Horton said.

The council agreed to a 45-day suspension on new and pending applications and is expected to extend that moratorium to a full year in January. The decision essentially leaves the city with four legitimate dispensaries — three that have been approved under regulations established last year and another that has been grandfathered in under the new laws.

Several public speakers urged the council not to establish the moratorium, arguing in part that it would drastically reduce needed access to medical marijuana for legitimate patients and drive a larger portion of the marijuana trade back onto the black market.

But others said a moratorium is exactly what the city needs to quell the growing number of dispensaries, particularly those located within walking distance of schools and parks.

Local leaders have been struggling, as many officials around the state, to find the best way to balance the rights of patients to acquire their medication with the need to protect neighborhoods from any negative impacts associated with dispensaries.

A set of revised regulations crafted during a series of painstaking committee hearings during the past few months is expected to move forward during January or February in conjunction with the moratorium, and would include a citywide cap of seven dispensaries spread across seven geographical regions.

Members of the city council also met last month and decided to pursue further refinement of those regulations to make it clear that Santa Barbara only allows nonprofit collectives that operate in accordance with state laws.

City officials didn’t spend much time debating the merits of a moratorium yesterday, and instead focused on whether to allow dispensary applications to proceed through the approval process before stopping short of receiving a permit — creating a priority queue of sorts.

Derek Westen, an attorney representing the Santa Barbara Patients Group, said he agreed with a moratorium but asked that applications be processed during the suspension period. The collective he represents is the only nonconforming dispensary that presumably would remain open during the moratorium, as the city attorney recently served the remaining nonconforming shops with cease and desist letters.

The revised regulations expected to be approved early next year would give the Patients Group only six months before it would have to comply with city laws or close. Westen asked that applications continue to be processed to ensure that a long gap doesn’t develop between when final regulations are established and when potential dispensaries could complete the application process.

But other speakers railed against the idea of continuing to process pot shop applications during the moratorium. One called it a waste of city staff time, saying, “It’s crazy to be processing applications when you don’t know what your ordinance is going to be.”

Rolf Geyling, president of the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, agreed with that sentiment, arguing that it makes no sense to process applications under old rules when new regulations are only a few months away from approval.

“We don’t jump out of airplanes and learn how to skydive on the way down,” he said.

City officials eventually agreed not to look at new applications during the suspension period.

“It does seem to me to be a little strange to go on with processing as if nothing happened,” Councilmember Das Williams said.

The three permitted dispensaries that would operate during the moratorium are located at 331 N. Milpas St., 500 N. Milpas St. and 629 Olive St.; officials said the latter two have yet to open but acquired permits from the city prior to the discussion of the moratorium. Santa Barbara Patients Group, at 3128 State St., would be allowed to remain open as long as the nonconformance window stays open.

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pot and bans : 12/9/2009

bummer dude...

the dude

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Thank You Daily Sound! : 12/9/2009

Your reporting on this issue has been straight forward, honest, and intelligent. The recent headlines in the News-Press have been shrill, fear-based, and side w/ rouge law enforcement. The Cannabis Industry is just that...a thriving, growing industry that serves a legitimate need in this community. To think that it will fold up and go away because "concerned citizens" are upset is ridiculous. Marijuana will always be with us and we need to find solutions to this current dilemma...I agree w/ many of the recommendations that the city council have recently suggested or adopted. As an advocate for safe access to medical marijuana I have visited many of the dispenseries in question and NOT ONCE have I seen crime, vandalism, loitering teens or any other unsavory element hanging about. The fearful tactics used by opponents reflects a true ignorance of what medical marijuana is really all about (have Mummy & Daddy have been watching too much Fox News at cocktail time?!)

Another SB DEM voting for Das Williams!

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Williams is no hero : 12/10/2009

He's tried to spin this every way he can to come out looking good to everyone. We in the community asked for key things the ordinance committee never even considered in the revised ordinance. The only reason we (neighborhood groups, parents, PTA heads, school administrators, businesses, and non-profits) got that moratorium in is because we begged for Pedro Nava's help, and he responded. After seeing Williams (who receives contributions from pro-pot forces, and people tied to dispensaries) mangle the ordinance so badly, claim that it is the panacea to fix all our problems, and then try to claim credit for the moratorium that we, the citizens, pressed Falcone and Francisco for, and to which they responded and got on the agenda for a vote...there is no way you can vote for that man to be in the Assembly. Give me Susan Jordan over Williams in a minute.

downtown res

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