The Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission unanimously rejected on Monday a use permit for a dispensary at 4332 E. Live Oak Blvd. in an unincorporated area in Arcadia.
Commissioners said they were disappointed in San Blas' presentation and that while most of them favored marijuana as a medicinal use, that San Blas did not meet the burden of proof for developing this particular location.
"The burden of proof is incomplete ... the buffer from the community is difficult," commissioner Harold Helsley said at the hearing held at the Pamela Park gymnasium in Duarte.
But Helsley also made a plea to the audience to be more open minded to medicinal marijuana use - as did some of his colleagues after the decision.
"We as a community need to realize this is something that can assist in pain relief ... and we certainly don't give it its dues," Helsley said.
More than 100 people, including residents near the dispensary, attended the meeting in support of turning down the proposal. When the commission voted, the audience responded with loud cheers in favor of the decision.
The dispensaries location would have been at a site of a former car wash in county area that falls somewhat inbetween El Monte, Baldwin Park, Duarte, Monrovia and Arcadia.
Most of those who spoke out against the plan focused on its vicinity to residential homes and playing children.
"I have known plenty of drug addicts and have known the crowds associated with them," said Daryl Dittebrand, 41, who lives directly across from the proposed plan. "My concern is the type of individual that would be at this facility. These facilities are being abused."
Few speakers spoke in favor of the plan. Those who did outlined how marijuana helps ease pain from a personal injury or ailment. Speakers said this dispensary would be more convenient than ones in La Puente or Los Angeles, and due to its location, safer than others.
San Blas argued that he would have run a quality facility with armed security and ensure that patients wouldn't smoke on the property. He compared what he was trying to do to the nearby liquor store and that he would adhere to laws just as cigarette and alcohol sellers do.
In the end, he knew most of the community stood against him.
"I'm sorry to say this, but the community that is against me is closed-minded," he said at the hearing.
At the beginning of the meeting, commissioner Wayne Rew said speakers should focus on the facts of this case and not focus on the upcoming Proposition 19 that aims to legalize marijuana.
In the end, Rew and other commissioners talked about other ways to better enforce laws and keep medicinal marijuana dispensaries safe, such as using medical facilities as distributors.
Dittebrand, who was accompanied by his two children and wife, thought the commissioners should have stayed focused on this project rather than lecture on the merits of medicinal marijuana.
"I stuck to land use," he said. "He should have stuck to land use."
Source: Pasadena Star-News
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