BOARD BLOCKS NEW POT DISPENSARIES

No more medical marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to locate in
unincorporated Tulare County for the next 45 days, the Board of
Supervisors decided Tuesday.

Since the board created a zoning ordinance for the dispensaries on
May 1, 2007, six have been established in Pixley, Goshen, Visalia,
Woodlake, Kingsburg and Exeter. The county has become concerned
because there is no way to track where and when the dispensaries
open, said Theresa Szymanis, countywide planner for the Resource
Management Agency.

A public hearing has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 12, to discuss
an amendment to the ordinance that could help the county keep an eye
on where the dispensaries locate.

"The current law is only a zoning law," said Kathleen Bales-Lange,
county counsel. "There is no special use permit ... your board may
consider in addition to the zoning you have now requiring [medical
marijuana dispensaries] to have a special use permit."

The county's concerns Information provided by the county cited
concerns that medical marijuana dispensaries can have harmful
secondary effects, such as traffic congestion, parking problems,
loitering and noise.

According to the same documents, only 21 people have obtained medical
marijuana identification cards from Tulare County, and the six
dispensaries currently operating in the county should be sufficient
to serve that population.

This is not the first moratorium placed on the establishment of
medical marijuana dispensaries in Tulare County. A 10 1/2-month
moratorium was voted in by the board on March 7, 2006, so the county
could research where dispensaries could be located --resulting in the
zoning ordinance that was approved last May.

That zoning ordinance requires the dispensaries be located in a
commercial or industrial zone, and are not located within 1,000 feet
of sensitive-use areas, which include schools, child-care facilities,
parks and churches with children's activities.

Outlying areas The county will also see if current dispensaries are
located in appropriate zoning. A representative from Goshen and
another from Pixley spoke during the public comment portion of the
meeting, noting that dispensaries are attempting to open within 1,000
feet of sensitive-use areas.

Ray Chavez, administrator for the Tulare County Childcare Education
Program, said the dispensary location in Pixley is near a preschool
program he oversees.

"We understand that the facility opening next to our home base will
be distributing drugs," Chavez said.

H.W. "Woody" DeHaven, treasurer for Goshen's planning committee, said
the dispensary trying to open there is close to a school, a church
and a mobile home park. He said that location is not safe for the
clientele or for storing the product and is in an area known for crime.