HAYWARD DISCUSSES REZONING POT CLUBS

'We're not against helping patients, we just don't want it downtown'

HAYWARD -- Community leaders this week convened a budding debate about the
extent to which medical marijuana dispensaries should be allowed downtown.

The meeting was the first of an ad-hoc committee set up by Mayor Roberta
Cooper to look into the political and practical ramifications of
sanctioning the three existing dispensaries, now operating against
Hayward's zoning law.

The dispensaries also may be in violation of criminal law, depending upon
whom you ask. Proposition 215 legalized marijuana for medicinal uses in
California, although it is still considered illegal under federal law.

It's that legal limbo that kept Hayward police away from the table Tuesday,
despite the mayor's invitation. The department chose not to serve on the
committee because the idea of sanctioning the dispensaries puts officers in
an awkward position, said Capt. Raul Valdivia.

"It's doing something that's contrary to federal law," he said. "When we're
sworn in, we commit to upholding both state and federal law."

Committee members present at Tuesday's meeting were the mayor, City Manager
Jesus Armas, City Attorney Michael O'Toole, Assistant City Attorney Maureen
Conneely, Hayward dispensary owner Shon Squier, Oakland Cannabis Buyers
Cooperative director Jeff Jones, Medical Cannabis Association Presi-dent
Jane Weirick and Chamber of Commerce representative Chris Zaballos.

Westminster Hills Presbyterian Church Pastor John Wichman is also a
committee member but was absent Tues-day.

The quandary before the committee is whether and how to change the zoning
law to accommodate the dispensaries. The law is exclusionary, mean-ing the
only permitted uses are the ones specifically mentioned in the law.
Dispensing pot is not one of those -- for now, anyway.

Neighboring cities like Oakland take a different approach to zoning.
Oakland specifies the uses that are not allowed, as opposed to the uses
that are allowed. Again, dispensing pot is not on the list.

The Hayward dispensaries aren't new: The youngest is 5 months old and the
oldest has been around for more than a decade.

But their profile was raised earlier this year after a story in The Daily
Review about a proposed new dispensary. The city turned down the proposed
new owner and notified the existing dispensary owners that they were
violating the law.

That led Squier to ask the council to form a committee to consider
authorizing the existence of the dispensaries.

Tuesday's meeting was informal and conversational.

"There was a feeling of trust in the room," Cooper said.

Most of the questions were directed to the medical marijuana proponents,
and were about how the business is run and how cities like San Francisco,
Oakland and Fairfax have dealt with it.

Hayward's dispensaries are the only stop for medical marijuana between
Oakland and San Jose, Weirick said.

Zaballos was clear about the chamber's opposition -- not to the
dispensaries, but to their location in downtown Hayward, particularly along
the B Street corridor.

"We're not against helping patients, we just don't want it downtown," he
said. "It's a use issue."

In what seemed like an informal compromise, dispensary proponents said
they'd understand being excluded from the main thoroughfares, everything
from the west side of Foothill Boulevard down B Street to City Hall.

If that delineation holds, only one B Street dispensary would be
sacrificed, because the other two are on the east side of Foothill, part of
which is in the path of a future road-improvement project.

"We're not happy with the idea of moving, but we're willing to
accommodate," Jones said, speaking on behalf of the local dispensaries.

While happy about the accommodation, Cooper, who voted for Proposition 215,
said she is still wary about how changing the zoning law would affect local
law enforcement or could invite visits from federal officials.

"I don't want to see raids," she said.

The City Council expressed its support for the committee, which was created
by the mayor, and voted to allocate staff time to it.

City officials maintain that the committee meetings are not open to the
public, but they are allowing The Daily Review to attend.