City officials said the crackdown is prompted by a recent spike in community complaints lodged against 117 marijuana storefronts.
The city has no zoning category for cannabis dispensaries, so inspectors are systematically visiting stores and issuing orders to cease and desist business operations, said Robert Vacchi, a deputy director for San Diego’s Development Services Department.
“They can’t legally locate anywhere, at least until the city comes up with an ordinance,” Vacchi said. “It’s the business owner’s responsibility to make sure they can operate in the place they’ve chosen to operate. It’s got nothing to do with medical marijuana.”
So far, 31 storefronts have been inspected and 14 violation notices have been issued. Six have shut their doors, including four that closed before the citations were issued.
San Diego County code enforcers have taken similar steps. Since February, four dispensaries have been cited for not complying with county land-use rules and violating the county’s moratorium on dispensaries.
Medicinal pot advocates are crying foul, saying the citations are the latest effort to shut down operations that are permitted under state law. They said the crackdown is solidifying San Diego’s reputation for having one of the toughest stances in the state against dispensaries.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Essie Rahbari, president of the Pacific Beach Collective, which was visited by city inspectors about a month ago. “On the one hand, they have a group that’s supposed to be putting together rules, and on the other hand, they’re shutting us down. They’re trying to enforce something that hasn’t passed yet.”
The development is the latest pitfall local agencies have encountered as they grapple with California voters’ decision in 1996 to legalize medical use of the drug.
Subsequent state legislation and guidelines issued by the California Attorney General’s Office have attempted to provide cities and counties with guidance on how to regulate the use of the drug. But public officials in San Diego have struggled with the issue for the past year.
More than 100 dispensaries have opened in San Diego as a city-appointed task force has studied and proposed regulatory options. County officials issued a moratorium against dispensaries operating in the unincorporated areas in July. Both entities are in the process of formulating ordinances to regulate such operations.
A committee of City Council members will meet today to act on a second and final set of recommendations for its ordinance. Council members will be presented new reports showing that it could cost $25,000 to $35,000 for city staffers to process each dispensary permit. Recommendations being considered include requiring dispensaries to pay for permits and fees that cover the full cost of regulating them, and making it mandatory for stores to conduct employee background checks.
A first set of recommendations for land-use and zoning regulations was approved by a separate council committee in March, and the council is to consider the two sets of rules this summer.
Councilman Todd Gloria, who has supported recommendations presented to both committees, said the development “highlights the need for regulations.”
The chairman of the city-appointed task force that compiled the recommendations called the timing and nature of the crackdown unfortunate.
“I’m concerned about it,” said Alex Kreit, an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. “Whatever one’s stance on this is, it makes sense to wait until an ordinance is in place and then enforce the ordinance.”
But for residents such as Marcie Beckett, the code-enforcement actions are welcome and overdue. Beckett, a mother of two from Pacific Beach, filed a complaint against 94 dispensaries in April after noticing a proliferation of storefronts.
“I have two teenagers, and I think the stores send them a message that marijuana is OK and mainstream,” Beckett said. “But it’s not OK, and it’s not safe.”
Beckett and others opposed to the dispensaries said the timing is a nonissue because it would be best to shut down all storefronts and have them reapply for permits once an ordinance is approved.
“Everyone who opened illegally knew they were taking a risk when they opened and have been benefiting from lax enforcement,” said Scott Chipman, a longtime critic of the dispensaries. “They should all be closed and then go through the full review process.”
Some dispensary operators said they have been doing everything possible to operate legally, and feel the code citations are a scare tactic.
“I’ve been trying to work with the city and the community,” said Adela Falk, the director of Wisdom Organics, a dispensary in Linda Vista. Falk said she has paid city business tax certificate fees for the past year and filed state paperwork to operate as a nonprofit. She said orders to shut down will only make it harder for patients to get medicine.
The city citations focused on compliance with zoning rules, Vacchi said. No fines have been levied, but they could be if dispensaries don’t comply within a certain period, typically 30 days. Two staffers have been conducting the inspections, and the process is taking some time because it isn’t considered as high a priority as public safety and health violations, Vacchi said.
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
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