O.C. POT SHOPS EXIST IN GRAY ZONE

Supervisors Reject a Bid for a Temporary Ban on Dispensaries in
Unincorporated Areas.

The Buddha and bamboo shoots are gone.

In their place is an empty home - except for the metal detector -
that until recently was the site of one of half a dozen marijuana
dispensaries that opened up in the last year in tiny Sunset Beach.

The dispensary, West County Patient Collective Assn., packed up and
left this summer, saying it had been strung along by the county in
getting a conditional use permit to sell medicinal marijuana. The
collective's volunteers saw the case as one of selective
discrimination, but residents and officials viewed the association as
an example of unwelcome businesses taking advantage of a lack of laws
governing marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of Orange County.

John Griggs, who headed the collective, said he had believed it would
be welcome in Sunset Beach, a coastal enclave adjacent to Huntington Beach.

"Because it's unincorporated and the county had nothing on their
books and it gave us a legal way to open up," he said.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors rejected a
temporary moratorium on permits for marijuana collectives or
cooperatives in unincorporated areas. The ban will be reconsidered in
November, but not until after the state election, in which California
voters will decide whether to legalize the nonmedical use and
possession of marijuana.

Supervisor Janet Nguyen said residents of Midway City, a small
unincorporated community surrounded by Westminster, have also noticed
dispensaries opening up, some near schools.

Many of the county's 34 cities have restricted such operations,
leading collectives to look to the relatively small amount of
unincorporated territory.

"We do face this issue in our small areas, and we don't know about it
until there are complaints," she said at Tuesday's board meeting.

The moratorium, billed as urgent, was intended to give the county
time to assess what the consequences will be if Proposition 19
passes. Approval of the initiative could require the county to
reassess what little regulation is currently in place.

Dispensaries aren't explicitly allowed or forbidden under county
code, but are required to get use permits because they are seen as
having moderate to high potential for adverse effects on the
surrounding community, according to a memorandum sent out by the
county chief executive's office in July.

Currently there are 11 non-permitted marijuana storefronts in
unincorporated areas, according to the county. One dispensary is
applying for a permit from the planning department.

Dispensaries in the county's cities are subject to local laws, but
those in unincorporated areas seem to have existed in regulation gray
zones. The county does not issue general business licenses. There are
certain types of businesses that the Sheriff's Department licenses,
including escort services and public baths, but marijuana collectives
are not among them.

The department has been investigating marijuana dispensaries for two
years and recently served a warrant at one in Sunset Beach. But
deputies look only for violations of state health and safety laws not
county regulations, said Lt. Adam Powell, who heads the department's
narcotics unit.

Supervisors John Moorlach and Shawn Nelson rejected the idea that the
need for a moratorium was urgent since the county has never approved
a dispensary permit.

Supervisor Patricia Bates said the moratorium would send a message to
dispensaries not to open until the county figured out its regulation policy.

In Sunset Beach it's not clear how many dispensaries are still in business.

At the location of the former West County collective, a man who was
recently working on the building said another dispensary was opening
up and at least two others in the area were still operating as of last week.

For some, it is an example of what could happen if regulation of
dispensaries remains vague.

"We didn't need a concentration of them," said Greg Griffin,
president of the Sunset Beach Community Assn. "I didn't think we
needed six dispensaries."