COUNCIL BACKS TOUGHER ZONING FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESSES

Medical marijuana businesses will probably be confined to a few small
areas of the city after the City Council took a big step in that
direction Monday night.

And the council also approved placing a mill levy for planning
services on the ballot.

While the council didn't pass any zoning changes Monday night, council
members signaled their support for a proposed ordinance that restricts
where medical marijuana businesses can operate.

If the proposed ordinance passes in a few months, medical-marijuana
businesses would be mostly allowed in a few areas along the interstate
and in a small industrial area east of downtown. Existing businesses
that aren't in those areas would have four years to find new, legal
locations.

No medical-marijuana business would be allowed within 1,000 feet of
any residential zone, church, school, park or other public place, and
the proposed ordinance also limits the types of signs that the
businesses can use.

The council voted 10-0 to begin the approval process on the new
ordinance, which must now wind its way through the Zoning Commission
before returning to the council for a final vote, probably in
late-September.

The council also voted 10-0 for a council initiative to add one year
to a moratorium already in place that bans any new medical-marijuana
businesses. City staffers will now prepare a resolution extending the
moratorium and present it to the council before the existing
moratorium expires in November.

The council heard from a number of people on both sides of the issue,
including doctors and medical-marijuana patients. Council members
agreed that they probably will face lawsuits from medical-marijuana
caregivers no matter what action was taken.

Since the city is bound to get sued over the matter anyway, some
council members wanted to go even further and ban the businesses
completely inside city limits. But others on the council cautioned
that the city needed to be able to defend itself in court.

"We're trying to craft the most defensible position in court,"
Councilman Ed Ulledalen said. "Do we want to move in a knee-jerk
reaction or do we want to move in an intelligent way that allows us to
manage it?"

The council nearly voted for an all-out ban on medical-marijuana
businesses in the city, but the motion failed on a 6-4 vote.

Councilman Dick Clark sponsored the citywide ban and had the support
of Mayor Tom Hanel and Council members Mark Astle and Jim Ronquillo.
Council members Denis Pitman, Angela Cimmino, Rich McFadden, Vince
Ruegamer, Jani McCall and Ed Ulledalen voted against the all-out ban.
Councilwoman Peggie Gaghen was absent.

Even though the issue is one step closer to resolution, council
members still have considerable heartburn wondering how the state
Legislature will handle the matter in 2011. State Rep. Ken Peterson,
R-Billings, told the council that it will come down to who is in
charge in Helena.

"If the people who are against (medical marijuana) are in charge,
we'll repeal it," Peterson said.

"I want to emphasize to the council that marijuana in any form is
illegal. The possession of it, the sale of it, buying it, even having
marijuana seeds is illegal under federal law."

The proposed ordinance will now go to the Zoning Commission, which
will fine-tune it and hold a public hearing before sending it back to
the council.

In other business, the council voted 10-0 to place a 1-mill levy
increase for the city's Planning Division on the No-vember ballot.

If city voters approve the mill levy increase, it will raise about
$159,000 a year for planning services in the city. Several people,
including council members, criticized Yellowstone County commissioners
for declining to place the mill levy request on the countywide ballot.

If the increase passes, the owner of a $200,000 home would pay an
additional $2.82 a year for planning services.

The council also delayed for two weeks a second reading of a new
ordinance that bans most cell phone use while driving. While the
second reading is mostly a formality, the council wanted to wait until
Gaghen -- its chief sponsor -- could return for the final vote on the
ban.