WILDOMAR COMMISSION TO CONSIDER REGULATIONS TO ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA
DISPENSARIES

Wildomar could start on a path this week toward becoming the second
Riverside County city to allow medical marijuana dispensaries.

The city's Planning Commission on Wednesday will consider a new law
that would regulate the dispensaries, lifting a ban in place since
Wildomar became a city in 2008.

First, the commission must decide if dispensaries are appropriate for
the city. If so, it must decide how and where they can operate.

City Attorney Julie Hayward-Biggs drafted regulations based on a law
passed by the city of Laguna Woods, an Orange County retirement community.

In a report prepared for the meeting, Planning Director David Hogan
said commissioners could accept the ordinance as is, reject it or
modify it as they see fit.

For example, the draft would give the city administration power to
issue permits to dispensaries. The commission could decide to make the
process more onerous, requiring public hearings before a business can
open.

The draft would allow dispensaries in commercial zones only. But,
Hogan said in the report, the commission could decide to relegate the
businesses to industrial zones only, or it could allow them in both
commercial and industrial zones.

Commissioners must also decide how far the dispensaries should be from
schools, parks and other places children are likely to be. The draft
law calls for them to be at least 1,000 feet away.

The draft does not put a cap on the number dispensaries allowed in the
city. It allows them to be open only from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday. And it requires the businesses to have security
cameras and to keep the tapes for at least two weeks in case police
need them to investigate a crime.

All such regulations could be altered if the commission approves a new
law.

The push to allow dispensaries began this spring, when a nonprofit
marijuana collective, the Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group,
opened a storefront location on Mission Trail. The collective's
manager, William Sump, walked into City Hall and announced he would
open the store, though city codes forbade it.

Wildomar's rules on medical marijuana were inherited from Riverside
County when the city incorporated.

The collective's opening and subsequent quick closure sparked a
response from local medical marijuana activists, who persuaded the
council to consider allowing dispensaries.

In April, the council voted 4-1, with Mayor Bridgette Moore
dissenting, to direct the city attorney to draft the new law. If the
Planning Commission votes in favor of a new ordinance, the law would
proceed to the City Council for approval.