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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 472 CERTIFICATION 1, Marcia McClure Torgerson, C.M.C., City Clerk of the City of Atascadero, hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Ordinance No. 472, adopted by the Atascadero City Council at a regular meeting thereof held on March 8, 2005, and that it has been duly published pursuant to State Law. DATED: Marcia McClure Torgerson, C.M.q:' City Clerk City of Atascadero, California ORDINANCE NO. 472 EXTENSION TO AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ATASCADERO, CALIFORNIA, MAKING FINDINGS AND ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ATASCADERO DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Findings A. In 1996, the voters of the State of California approved Proposition 215, which was codified as Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5, et seq. and entitled the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 ("the Act"). B. The intent of Proposition 215 was to enable persons who are in need of medical marijuana for medical purposes to obtain and use it under limited, specified circumstances. C. On January 1, 2004, SB 420 went into effect. SB 420 was enacted by the Legislature to clarify the scope of the Act and to allow cities and counties to adopt and enforce rules and regulations consistent with SB 420 and the Act. D. Neither the Atascadero Municipal Code nor the Atascadero Zoning Ordinance address or regulate in any manner the existence or location of medical marijuana dispensaries. E. After receiving inquiries from persons interested in establishing medical marijuana dispensaries, three other cities in the greater San Luis Obispo county area have adopted ordinances prohibiting or heavily regulating such dispensaries. Because other cities in the region are considering enacting similar ordinances, there is a substantially increased likelihood that such establishments will seek to locate in the City of Atascadero. F. Other California cities that have permitted the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries have witnessed an increase in crime, such as burglaries, robberies, and sales of illegal drugs in the areas immediately surrounding such dispensaries. G. To address both community and statewide concerns regarding the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, it is necessary for the City of Atascadero to study the potential impacts such facilities may have on the public health, safety, and welfare. H. If medical marijuana dispensaries were allowed to be established in the City without appropriate regulation, such uses might be established in areas that would conflict with the requirements of the General Plan, be inconsistent with surrounding uses, or be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare; and if such uses were allowed to proceed as allowed under the current zoning, such uses could conflict with, and defeat the purpose of, the proposal to study and adopt new regulations regarding medical marijuana dispensaries. City of Atascadero Ordinance No.472 Page 2 of 4 I. Based on the foregoing, the City Council finds that issuing permits, business licenses, or other applicable entitlements providing for the establishment and/or operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, prior to the completion of the City's study of the potential impact of such facilities, poses a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, and that a temporary moratorium on the issuance of such permits, licenses, and entitlements is thus necessary. I. The Police Chief, in conjunction with the City Manager and City Attorney, shall immediately commence to take steps to conduct a study of the potential impacts of medical marijuana dispensaries on the public health, safety, and welfare and of possible amendments to the City's Zoning Ordinance. Section 2. Imposition of Moratorium A. In accordance with the authority granted the City of Atascadero under Government Code Section 65858, from and after the date of this ordinance, no use permit, variance, building permit, business license or other applicable entitlement for use shall be approved or issued for the establishment or operation of a medical marijuana dispensary for a period of four months. B. For purposes of this ordinance, "medical marijuana dispensary" shall mean any facility or location where a primary caregiver intends to or does make available, sell, transmit, give, or otherwise provide medical marijuana to two or more of the following: a qualified patient, a person with an identification card, or a primary caregiver. For purposes of this ordinance, the terms "primary caregiver," "qualified patient," and "person with an identification card" shall have the same meaning as that set forth in Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5, et seg. C. For purposes of this ordinance, a medical marijuana dispensary shall not include the following uses, as long as the location of such uses is otherwise regulated by applicable law and has long as such use complies strictly with applicable law, including, but not limited to, Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5, et seg.: (1) a clinic, licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; (2) a health care facility, licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; (3) a residential care facility for persons with chronic life-threatening illness, licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.01 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; (4) a residential care facility for the elderly, licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; or (5) a residential hospice or home health agency, licensed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Health and Safety Code. D. This ordinance is an interim urgency ordinance adopted pursuant to the authority granted to the City of Atascadero by Government Code Section 65858 and is for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare. The City Council of the City of Atascadero hereby finds and declares that there is a need to enact an urgency interim ordinance establishing a moratorium on all new medical marijuana dispensaries,based upon the following findings: City of Atascadero Ordinance No.472 Page 3 of 4 (1) California cities that have permitted the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries have found that such dispensaries have resulted in negative and harmful secondary effects, such as an increase in crime, including robberies, burglaries, and sales of illegal drugs in the areas immediately surrounding medical marijuana dispensaries. This potential for increased risk of crime and violence presents a clear and immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City of Atascadero; and (2) After receiving inquiries from persons interested in establishing medical marijuana dispensaries, three other cities in the greater San Luis Obispo County area have adopted ordinances prohibiting or heavily regulating such dispensaries. Because other cities of the region are considering enacting similar ordinances, there is a substantially increased likelihood that such establishments will seek to locate in the City of Atascadero; and (3) The City of Atascadero does not currently have standards in its Municipal Code relating to the location, operation, and concentration of medical marijuana dispensaries within the City; and (4) If medical marijuana dispensaries were allowed to be established without appropriate review of location and operational criteria and standards, such uses might be established in areas that would conflict with the requirements of the General Plan, be inconsistent with surrounding uses, or could have potential adverse secondary effects on neighborhoods in the City and be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare; (5) The failure to adopt this ten month and fifteen-day moratorium, therefore, may result in significant irreversible change in the character of the community and the neighborhood surrounding any marijuana dispensary that would be allowed to open under the City's current policy; and (6) Permitting a marijuana dispensary to open while the City is studying and considering zoning proposals to regulate and/or prohibit this use would defeat the purpose of studying these impacts in the first place; and (7) As a result of the negative and harmful secondary effects associated with medical marijuana dispensaries and the current and immediate threat such secondary effects pose to the public health, safety, and welfare, it is necessary to extend a temporary, ten month and fifteen (15) day moratorium on the establishment and operation of new medical marijuana dispensaries in the City, pending completion of the City's study of the potential impacts of medical marijuana dispensaries and possible amendments to the City's Zoning Ordinance. Section 3. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; it prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of the contemplated Zoning Ordinance review. City of Atascadero Ordinance No.472 Page 4 of 4 Section 4. Severability If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof. Section 5. Effective Date This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption if adopted by at a least four-fifths vote of the City Council and shall be in effect for four months from the date of adoption, March 8, 2005, unless extended by the City Council as provided for in the Government Code. INTRODUCED at a regular meeting of the City Council held on March 8, 2005, and PASSED and ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Atascadero, State of California, on March 8, 2005, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Council Members Clay, Luna, O'Malley and Mayor Scalise NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Council Member Pacas ADOPTED: March 8, 2005 ATTEST: CITY OF ATASCADER Marcia McClure Torgerson, C.M.C. ity Clerk W dy Sc s , Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: Patric,. Vneght, City Attorney