RULE-MAKING FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA STARTS

City Zoners Will Look at Proposals Tuesday for Cultivating, Dispensing Pot

KINGMAN - Following the successful passage of voter Proposition 203 in
the November election, the Kingman Planning and Zoning Commission on
Tuesday will tackle the issue of how the cultivation and dispensing of
medical marijuana will be regulated in the city.

Prop. 203, which passed by a margin of fewer than 4,400 votes, allows
the legal cultivation and dispensing of medical marijuana across the
state of Arizona. However, it is up to each individual municipality on
how such practices are to be implemented. According to backup material
presented to commissioners, the city has until Feb. 15 to adopt an
ordinance on the matter, in order to allow for a 30-day referendum
period which must be completed prior to March 30, by which point the
Arizona Department of Health Services must adopt its own set of
regulatory rules for medical marijuana.

The commission will be presented with three alternatives ranging from
most to least restrictive that it may alter as it sees fit prior to
issuing its recommendation. Whichever alternative it chooses,
commissioners would effectively be voting for an amendment to the city
zoning ordinance.

Alternative 1, the most restrictive of the three, would allow for the
cultivation of marijuana in the Rural Residential zoning district only
and at least 2,500 feet from any alternative residential zoning, with
dispensing allowed only in the I-2: Heavy Industrial zoning district.
Any such dispensing facility would be limited to just a single,
permanent structure no larger than 100 square feet, and sales of
marijuana could only take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday
through Friday.

Alternative 1 would also require dispensaries to be located at least
2,500 feet from any pre-school, school, place of worship, public park,
mental health facility or substance abuse rehabilitation center, as
well as at least 2,500 from any residential zoning district.

Alternative 2, a more moderate choice, would still confine cultivation
to the Rural Residential zoning district, but would reduce the minimum
spacing from other residential districts to 1,500 feet. It would also
expand the zones in which dispensaries are allowed to the C-3, I-1 and
I-2 zoning districts, with dispensary buildings allowed to be up to
1,000 square feet in size. Hours of operation for dispensaries would
be expanded to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the
alternative would also drop the spacing requirements to 1,500 feet
from schools, places of worship, etc., and to 500 feet from a
residential zoning district.

The most lenient alternative, no. 3, would maintain the same
cultivation standards and minimum distances as Alternative 2, but
would further expand dispensaries to the C-2 commercial district, in
addition to the C-3, I-1 and I-2 zones. Spacing limits would be
dropped even further to just 250 feet from residential zones and 500
feet from schools, places of worship, etc. Hours of operation would be
the same as Alternative 2, but would be expanded to weekends as well,
and dispensaries would be allowed to install drive-through windows -
something that Alternatives 1 and 2 strictly prohibit.

Regardless of which alternative is favored by commissioners,
dispensaries would still have to adhere to the definitions and
regulations outlined in Prop. 203 itself, including only allowing
qualified patients with debilitating medical conditions such as
cancer, glaucoma, HIV or hepatitis C, and granting them access to no
more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks as medically prescribed.

Elsewhere on the agenda, commissioners are set to revisit a separate
request for a zoning ordinance amendment that, if approved, would
allow billboards to be constructed within the taper of any on-or
off-ramp in the city's interstate corridor. The request comes from
John Morotti, who is seeking to move a billboard he owns just east of
Mother Road Harley-Davidson at 2501 Beverly Ave. further to the east,
putting it within the off-ramp taper of the eastbound I-40 off-ramp at
Stockton Hill Road.

Currently, billboards must be no less than 500 feet away from an on-
or off-ramp taper.

Tuesday's meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 310 N.
Fourth St. For further agenda details, visit the city website at
www.cityofkingman.gov and select "Agendas, Minutes and Video."