Long Beach City Council to draft new medical pot ordinance

“Our city needs the same authority as other cities and states to regulate this substance in plain, public view,” said Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal. “Right now, I think we have an obligation to consider what 30,000 residents believe is a worthwhile ballot issue.”

The council debate came a day after a group seeking to overturn the city’s medical marijuana ban was dealt a blow in court. A federal judge ruled officials would not have to place a medical marijuana initiative on the city’s April ballot, or do a full count of more than 43,000 signatures seeking a special election.

In an 8-0 vote, council members directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would once again allow a limited number of collectives to operate within city limits.

The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to draft an ordinance to allow and regulate medical marijuana collectives within the city, opening another chapter in the years-long saga over whether the city has the authority to control dispensaries.

Lowenthal and two co-sponsors had initially planned to ask the city attorney to draft a medical marijuana ballot measure to be placed on the April ballot.

But council members Tuesday evening agreed that drafting a new ordinance was their preferred method. The board asked the city attorney to return with a proposal that included caps on the number of collectives in each district and citywide, kept the dispensaries in areas zoned for industrial uses, and to consider the proximity to schools and residences.

City Atty. Charles Parkin said his office will proceed with caution, considering Long Beach’s complicated legal battles in trying to regulate marijuana dispensaries.

The city’s first ordinance, introduced by Lowenthal and passed in 2009, created a lottery system for permits, and limited the number and location of storefront dispensaries.

Those regulations were challenged by a non-permitted collective, and a state appeals court threw out the ordinance, saying the city’s regulations conflicted with federal law.

In response, the City Council opted to use zoning regulations to ban all collectives of three people or more.

“This is fluid,” Parkin said. “I can’t give them any guarantee that what they adopt will not be challenged or overturned by a court.”

He added that by using local zoning laws to regulate dispensaries as the council directed, the city may stand a better chance of surviving a legal challenge.

[Updated, 7:47 a.m. PDT Sept. 11: The city attorney's office will now work with planning commission staff to develop proposed regulations. Zoning ordinances must be approved by the city's planning commission before they can be considered by the City Council.]

The new effort comes as a legal case against the Long Beach city clerk over the medical marijuana ballot initiative is pending.

In February, a group called the Long Beach Citizens' and Patients’ Rights submitted more than 43,000 signatures, hoping to earn a spot on a special election ballot. But after a random sampling of the signatures, City Clerk Larry Herrera determined the proponents were 18 signatures short of triggering a full count of signatures.