GOING TO POT: EUREKA COUNCIL SET TO CONSIDER MEDICAL MARIJUANA
ORDINANCE

While the big item on Tuesday's Eureka City Council agenda is the
city's 2010-2011 budget, the others aren't exactly
lightweights.

City staff is recommending that the council introduce a medical
marijuana ordinance on Tuesday that has been months in the making. The
council is also scheduled to consider the city's comments on a draft
environmental impact report for a massive subdivision in Cutten and
the approval of an expanded no-smoking ordinance in the city in what
promises to be a marathon of a meeting.

Community Development Director Sidnie Olson said the proposed medical
marijuana ordinance is closely modeled after Arcata's, but contains
some notable differences.

"Arcata's was actually the template we built from," Olson
said.

The proposed ordinance attempts to deal with the issue through a
land-use approach, similar to Arcata's ordinance, and splits the issue
into two categories: cultivation for personal medical use and
dispensaries.

For personal use, the proposed ordinance would allow qualified
patients to cultivate marijuana only in their personal residences,
with grow spaces limited to 50 square feet.

While Arcata's ordinance allows cultivation to occur in the residence
of a patients' caregiver, Eureka's would not. Olson said this decision
was made to eliminate a gray area and potential abuse. However, Olson
said, there is nothing in the ordinance requiring patients to actually
grow their own, pointing out that a qualified patient could have a
caretaker come to their residence to grow the marijuana for them.

The ordinance would require that special wiring for medical marijuana
grows receive a permit from the city's building department, and that
lighting shall not exceed 1200 watts.

Further, the ordinance prohibits the use of gas products, including
CO2 and butane, and requires that there be no external evidence of
medical cannabis cultivation at the residence.

Exceptions can be granted for many of the provisions in the proposed
ordinance, and would be considered by the city's community development
director.

The dispensaries section of the ordinance would allow a maximum of
four cultivation/production facilities to be permitted within city
limits, each of which would be allowed a maximum of two distribution
facilities.

"The selection process for determining which cultivation/production
facilities and which distribution facilities may apply for permits
shall be by procedure established by the city council," the ordinance
reads.

The proposed ordinance also specifically outlaws mobile distribution
facilities -- known as "roach coaches" -- but would allow dispensaries
to offer delivery services.

"In many, many, ways delivery services are less intrusive than
storefronts," Olson said.

City staff is also recommending some modifications to the proposed
ordinance, including requiring that distribution facilities only serve
patients with valid and current state-or county-issued medical
marijuana identification cards and that the facilities only be allowed
in the city's service commercial, hospital medical, limited industrial
and general industrial zones.

Further, staff is recommending that council include language to
prohibit dispensaries from converting into recreational marijuana
facilities if a ballot measure seeking to legalize the drug in
California passes in November.

Anyone found in violation of the ordinance could be subject to
administrative, civil or criminal penalties.

Olson said she thinks the ordinance balances concerns in the community
with the rights of medical marijuana users.

"For the legal medical cannabis community, this ordinance will work
for them," she said.

In other matters, the council is set to consider submitting comments
for the draft environmental impact report for the Ridgewood Village
Development, a project in Cutten planned to include 1,442 residential
housing units and about 327,000 feet of commercial space.

"City staff from all departments have been reviewing the draft EIR and
have identified a number of issues and concerns that warrant comment
including, but not limited to, adverse impacts to city public safety
resources and personnel, and utility and transportation
infrastructure," the staff report states, recommending that the
council vote to authorize the mayor to sign the city's comment letter,
which will be presented to the council Tuesday evening.

Finally, city staff is recommending that the council adopt the city's
new smoking ordinance on Tuesday. The ordinance would prohibit smoking
in all outdoor dining areas, within 30 feet of building openings and
entrances, in ATM lines and at bus stops, and in outdoor public
gathering spaces, such as fairs, farmers markets and sports events.