Health and Fitness ? Marin's six medical marijuana dispensaries …
Marin?s six medical marijuana dispensaries have to be experiencing some existential dread.
Five of them are in jurisdictions that have not approved such businesses, and this month Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new state law, AB 1300, that removes the legal guesswork for local governments seeking to regulate dispensaries. Another new state bill, SB 847, which would prohibit dispensaries from within a 600-foot radius of a residential zone, was sent to the governor for his signature last week.
In Fairfax ? the one Marin municipality that officially permits dispensaries ? parties interested in opening a new storefront say they can?t find a viable site.
Four Marin municipalities ? San Rafael, Larkspur, Mill Valley and Sausalito ? have passed ordinances banning marijuana dispensaries. Novato and Corte Madera both have moratoriums on new dispensaries that expire in November. Both cities have marijuana collectives operating in their jurisdictions.
The city of Novato has allowed two dispensaries, the Green Tiger Collective and the Green Door Wellness Education Center, to operate side by side in an industrial area next to railroad tracks on Redwood Boulevard.
David Wallace, Novato?s community development director, said both dispensaries opened after Novato passed an ordinance banning marijuana dispensaries but before the city first adopted its moratorium in December 2010.
?The two operators contend that the legislation passed by the city wasn?t legal,? Wallace said. ?The city believes they were not legal at any time, and they should be closed down, and that has not been fully resolved at this point.?
Wallace said the town has been hesitant to close the dispensaries, fearing an expensive legal battle.
?There has been some court law established that does throw into question somewhat the city?s position,? Wallace said. ?We don?t want to go in and close somebody if there is a possibility that their position would prevail in a court of law.?
New legislation
Cities such as Novato that have been hesitant to ban dispensaries are likely to be emboldened, however, after the passage of AB 1300. The new law provides that local governments may pass laws regulating the location, operation or establishment of medical marijuana collectives.
In November 2010, Corte Madera entered into a settlement agreement allowing Marin Holistic Solutions to continue operating its dispensary at Tamal Plaza until its lease expires in 2014.
?They were allowed to stay because they had already signed a lease prior to the moratorium and already put their money down,? said Scot Candell, a San Rafael lawyer who represents Marin Holistic Solutions, Green Tiger Collective and the Marin Wellness Center in Kentfield.
The Marin Wellness Center is one of two dispensaries operating in the unincorporated area of Marin, which is under the jurisdiction of the county of Marin. The other is the Tree of Life in Santa Venetia, which was shut down a year ago but has since reopened.
After taking some initial steps to remove them, the county put its enforcement actions on hold until county supervisors decide whether to permit dispensaries.
David Zaltsman, a Marin County deputy county counsel, said, ?Given that we?re going to be addressing this soon we don?t want to expend a lot of resources trying to shut them down, if we?re ultimately going to allow them.?
Only in Fairfax
Only the county?s first dispensary, the Fairfax-based Marin Alliance For Medical Marijuana, is operating with a permit in a jurisdiction that allows dispensaries, and it is battling with the Internal Revenue Service, which claims it owes millions of dollars in unpaid back taxes.
In June, Fairfax lifted its temporary moratorium on new dispensaries, adopting an ordinance that would permit a maximum of three dispensaries to operate in town. But potential operators have so far been unable to find a landlord who will lease to them at a location that meets the town?s zoning requirements.
?There is a handful of available properties that are within the zoning, and none of those have acceptable parking,? said Matthew Witemyre, chief of staff for Medi-Cone, a collective that employs about a dozen people in the cultivation, harvesting and packaging of medical marijuana for several Bay Area dispensaries.
Witemyre said that, ideally, Medi-Cone would like to open a dispensary in the Fair-Anselm Plaza. But he said the property?s owners have informed him that use is not allowed there.
Current law prohibits the operation of a marijuana cooperative within a 600-foot radius of a school. Finding a location for dispensaries may get even tougher if Gov. Brown signs SB 847 and marijuana cooperatives are banned within a 600-foot radius of a residential area, Witemyre said.
Sales-tax revenue
Medi-Cone is ready and willing to pay an additional tax on its gross receipts, in addition to sales tax, to help Fairfax with its budget problems, Witemyre said.
?This is the worst economy we?ve seen in close to 80 years now,? he said. ?We want to be able to run our business, pay our taxes and be good members of the community.?
As part of its settlement agreement with the town of Corte Madera, Marin Holistic will begin paying a gross receipts tax of 1.4 percent in January.
?That?s in addition to the normal sales tax and business license fees for a retail operation,? said Dan Bell, Corte Madera?s assistant town manager and planning director.
All of the dispensaries operating in Marin are contributing sales tax to the jurisdictions where they are located. That may, or may not, be the case for the many marijuana collectives that deliver to Marin but are located elsewhere.
Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the state Board of Equalization, said sales-tax revenue from deliveries is supposed to go to the local jurisdiction where the customer is located.
Candell said, however, in the real world that rarely happens.
Brian Cochran, Novato?s finance manager, said, ?Generally, wherever your business is located is probably where you?re going to be reporting your tax to.?
Don Hatt, who operated the Caregiver Compassion Center in Sausalito until he lost his lease in April, said he now operates a delivery service based in Santa Rosa and pays all his sales tax there.
Witemyre said, ?If you ban storefront operations, you have other operators who aren?t having to abide by the same rules and regulations that a storefront operator would. You don?t know whether these guys are paying their taxes or not. You don?t know what their business practices are.?
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com
POT CLUBS IN MARIN: AT A GLANCE
Corte Madera is allowing one dispensary to remain open until its lease expires in 2014. It is:
? Marin Holistic Solutions, 200 Tamal Plaza, Suite 135
County of Marin is allowing two collectives to operate pending a decision by the Board of Supervisors. They are:
? Tree of Life, 292B N. San Pedro Road, Santa Venetia
? Marin Wellness Center, 1100 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite 1, Kentfield
Fairfax passed an ordinance allowing a total of three dispensaries in town, but no new collectives have been able to find a viable location. The existing pot club is:
?Marin Alliance For Medical Marijuana, 6 School St. No. 215
Novato is allowing two dispensaries to operate despite a ban and moratorium. They are:
? Green Door Wellness Education Center, 7586 Redwood Blvd. Suite C
? Green Tiger Collective, 7586 Redwood Blvd., Suite D
Article source: http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_18921753
Related posts:
- Court opinion may impact local medical marijuana dispensaries ? Sentinel
- San Jose Council Votes to Limit Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to 10
- Poll: Is Michigan better off without medical marijuana dispensaries? ? The Saginaw News
- Tague reacts to medical marijuana ruling
- San Jose looks to curb medical marijuana industry
alizee alizee khan academy kate hudson stage transfer deadline transfer deadline
Write a comment