CORNING DEFENDS CITATIONS ISSUED TO COLLECTIVE

CORNING - The city will argue a marijuana collective was not allowed
under its code even before it issued a temporary ban on such
organizations in a pending court case.

Tehama Herbal Collective owners Ken and Kathy Prather have
continually received citations since they opened the collective on
Solano Street.

Previously, the Prathers' lawyer, Bill Panzer, issued a demurrer
stating he would fight the citations by arguing the city's ban on
dispensaries, collectives and other marijuana operations is unconstitutional.

The city has the right to control where collectives are erected, but
not to ban them altogether, he said.

But, according to a response filed by City Attorney Michael
Fitzpatrick, the Prathers were never cited for violating the ban. The
citations were issued because the Prathers never obtained a use
permit from the city, nor did they ask it to zone an area for medical
marijuana collectives.

"Rather than follow administrative procedures...[the Prathers] chose
to simply "do business' in the zone they selected as best suiting
their needs and thumb their noses at City Hall," according to
Fitzpatrick's response dated April 5.

Fitzpatrick defends the city's prohibition on marijuana collectives
as a temporary measure. Legally, the city allows temporary
prohibitions on land use not already permitted by the local
government for a period up to two years, according to the response.

Fitzpatrick compares the relationship between California's marijuana
laws and city zoning ordinances to churches, nuclear power plants and
livestock auction yards, all of which must comply with local policies.

"These types of proposed uses, just like some types of medical
marijuana activities, are clearly legal," he writes. "But just
because they are "legal' doesn't mean that the jurisdiction must
allow them to go into any geographic area, regardless of their
impacts on surrounding uses of property and on the people surrounding
those neighboring properties."

California law is clear that, when state law does not address zoning
or land use, cities will be given the right to regulate land use,
Fitzpatrick argues.

The Prathers are scheduled to be arraigned May 4.