The suit alleges that the city of Agoura Hills overstepped its use of muncipal law enforcement by working cooperatively with the Sheriff's Department in thwarting the collective's operations, according to the Conejo Wellness Center's attorney, Arthur D. Hodge.
The Sheriff's Department Narcotics Strike Force raided the dispensary on Oct. 14, alleging it cultivated and distributed medical marijuana for profit.
"They weren't there to arrest anybody, just harass us," Mike Brown, a co-owner of the dispensary, told Patch the day after the raid. "They told us we are not allowed back there."
Assistant City Manager Louis Celaya contends that the city has been conducting a separate investigation into whether the Center was operating without the required business permit.
"The owner of the dispensary elected to open its non-conforming business in violation of municipal code," he said. "The Sheriff's Department does not handle matters of code enforcement."
The collective registered as an entity with the California secretary of state's office on June 8, 2006, according to Hodge, to provide medicinal marijuana to those patients in need. A tax registration certificate from the city of Los Angeles indicates that the business opened in Agoura Hills on Apr. 1, 2006.
Agoura Hills officials established a moratorium banning medicinal marijuana dispensaries after one such operation on Agoura Court, posing as a copier company, was evicted for lease violations in 2006. The City Council adopted an ordinance in 2008 making the ban permanent.
On Sept. 22, 2010, the City Council amended the ordinance, changing the definition of the word "business" from the original language to include not-for-profit cooperatives, such as the Conejo Wellness Center.
The lawsuit alleges that the enforcement of the amended ordinance, which disqualifies the Center from obtaining a business registration permit while at the same time mandating that it have one, is in violation of California and U.S. constitutional due process of rights.
Due process can be applied to persons as well as corporate entities, according to both California and US constitutions. Due process rights guarantee that the government cannot thwart a person's basic rights to life, liberty or property, without due process of law.
Hodge said the Conejo Wellness Center applied for a registration permit with the city on Dec. 14, 2009, despite the fact that it was not a profit-seeking entity. The Center was never verbally or otherwise told it was denied a business registration permit or had its $35 fee returned, he said.
Celaya said several attempts were made to contact the applicant by telephone. The application was denied, because it did not clearly state the nature of the business. "The property owner essentially disregarded concerns from the city," Celaya said.
The Conejo Wellness Center maintains that it is a collective of patients lawfully organized under the laws of the state of California, and that the city violated the Center's right to privacy and association. The collective's patients have a right to cultivate and distribute marijuana under California law, Hodge said.
The owners of the Conejo Wellness Center feel confident that they may be able to reopen its doors as early as next week, based on statements on its Facebook page.
A court date has been set for Monday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court at 600 S. Commonwealth Ave.
Source: Agoura Hills Patch
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