POT REGS COMMITTEE MEETS SEPT. 9

The first meeting of the committee charged with developing draft
regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries for Mendocino County is
set for Friday, September 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the county
administration building in Ukiah.

The public is invited to give input on what they would like to see, or
would oppose, in a dispensary ordinance. The ordinance would cover
only unincorporated areas of the county, not the incorporated cities
of Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Willits or Point Arena.

The ban on medical marijuana dispensaries inside the City of Willits
would not be affected.

The committee was originally created by the board of supervisors in
July, and consisted of Supervisor John McCowen and Supervisor Dan Hamburg.

But Hamburg told the board two weeks ago he was stepping down "out of
an abundance of caution" because his daughter was seeking to open a
medical marijuana dispensary herself.

Hamburg and McCowen tried to get fellow supervisors to take Hamburg's
place on the committee, but Supervisor Carre Brown and Supervisor
Kendall Smith, who'd served on the committee that created the 9.3.1
ordinance regulating county medical marijuana cultivation, were both
unwilling. Supervisor John Pinches said he'd serve on the committee if
the board appointed him, but said: "I would probably be the last
person people for a medical marijuana ordinance would want to see on
the committee," because he opposes creating any countywide dispensary
ordinance.

Pinches said existing commercial zoning rules for retail stores were
sufficient, with possibly the addition of special regulations like
those that allow but do not require the California Alcoholic Beverage
Control to deny a license to sell alcohol if the proposed site is
within 600 feet of a school or "within the immediate vicinity of
churches and hospitals."

According to the state ABC website: "Generally, ABC will deny a
license in the above situations when there is evidence that normal
operation of the licensed premises will be contrary to public welfare
and morals."

"I don't think that medical marijuana should be regulated any more
than selling Bayer aspirin or Jack Daniels whiskey," Pinches said. He
also noted there had been few complaints about existing medical
marijuana dispensaries.

After failing to find a second supervisor to serve on a committee, the
board authorized McCowen to work independently in conjunction with
public input to create draft regulations for the board to consider.

In a press release announcing the September 9 meeting, McCowen writes:
"My intention is to work with the community to draft a model ordinance
that balances the needs of patients and their caregivers to have safe
access to medical marijuana and the needs of residents and the
community to be protected from public health, safety and nuisance impacts."

McCowen told The Willits News he would hold a series of public
meetings, rotating around the county, including a meeting in the Third
District. He expects the process to take a couple of months, and hopes
to report back to the board by the end of the year.

"Any regulation that would be passed would be up to the board,"
McCowen emphasized, "but I think the draft, at a minimum, should
narrow the discussion points, the decision points, so that there would
be the framework of an ordinance. Then we'd identify five or maybe 10
areas where there was a lot of community discussion, but not
necessarily agreement."

McCowen also noted the lack of complaints about existing dispensaries:
"So far most of the people who are operating dispensaries now are very
sensitive to the community concerns, and I think that explains why, so
far, as far as I know, there have been no complaints about the way
they're operating."

But he did see the potential that "someone could come in that would
not have the same awareness and concern for the community."

The list of "10 to 12" dispensaries board members and others refer to
seems to be a bit overstated: one of the "dispensaries" on the list is
allegedly located at "123 No Way Way" in Fort Bragg, and there's one
listed in Willits at a vacant storefront on West Commercial Street.

Internet listings show at least seven active medical marijuana
dispensaries in Mendocino County: two in the town of Mendocino, one in
Fort Bragg, one in Hopland and two in Laytonville. Laura Hamburg is
seeking to locate her proposed new medical marijuana dispensary,
"Mendocino Generations," on Highway 128 in Boonville, between the
Valley Bible Fellowship and Lauren's Cafe.

The dispensary, which Laura Hamburg describes as: "A Main Street
American, holistic, healing center boutique featuring the best,
locally grown medicine on the planet," is set to open sometime in
early fall, with a neighborhood open house planned for Tuesday,
September 6, at 6 p.m.