MORATORIUM ON POT OUTLETS WEIGHED

Shasta Lake Officials Say Guidelines Needed Before Dispensaries Open

SHASTA LAKE - A 45-day moratorium on the establishment of medical
marijuana dispensaries here may be enacted today by the Shasta Lake
City Council.

The City Council is being asked to adopt an emergency ordinance
imposing the moratorium on pot dispensaries so city staff members can
establish guidelines to help govern their operation and minimize
potential problems.

The possible moratorium comes after the city, which has no rules or
regulations restricting dispensaries, approved two such operations at
the staff level earlier this month for sites along Shasta Dam Boulevard.

Those businesses, The Green Heart and 530 Collective, have yet to open.

"We (also) have had a lot of inquiries into opening up a facility
here," City Manager Carol Martin said Monday.

Although it's stressed that the city is not proposing a ban on
medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Shasta Lake, city officials say
guidelines are needed to help regulate them.

"With a lack of guidelines, it is feasible that several dispensaries
could locate to existing buildings along Shasta Dam Boulevard,"
Development Services Director Carla L. Thompson wrote in a report to
Martin. "With an absence of adopted guidelines, and without the
authority to impose conditions, it is possible that a proliferation
of dispensaries could operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week."

Thompson said the moratorium would allow the establishment of
guidelines that could, among other things, limit where they are
located, designate hours of operation and impose other restrictions,
such as their distances from schools and public parks.

In July, the Anderson City Council approved a 90-day moratorium on
medical marijuana dispensaries after a medical marijuana collective
and dispensary opened in that city. The owner of that facility, Gina
Munday, is the owner of one of the two yet-to-be-opened dispensaries
in Shasta Lake.

In her report, Thompson said the urgency ordinance would take effect
immediately and could be extended for 10 months and 15 days beyond
the original 45 days.

Two additional extensions also are allowed, she said.

Currently, Thompson said, her staff reviews requests for marijuana
dispensaries in the same manner it would a review requests for a
retail pharmacy, noting that a use permit is not required for
existing buildings that meet all city development standards, including parking.

[SIDEBAR]

If you're going

What: Shasta Lake City Council meeting.

When: 7 p.m. today.

Where: John Beaudet Senior Community Center, 1525 Median Ave.

Agenda includes: A proclamation recognizing the eighth anniversary of
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.