The city of Riverside sought an injunction to close the Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center on North Main Street, arguing that the city zoning code prohibits marijuana dispensaries.
At a hearing Thursday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge John D. Molloy continued to support the city's authority to ban dispensaries through zoning, and he refused to grant a permanent stay of the injunction. But he allowed the health and wellness center to remain open while its attorney, J. David Nick, asks the California Fourth District Court of Appeal to stay the injunction.
Whether the appeals court lets the dispensary remain open or not, the larger issue of using land use ordinances to ban dispensaries -- a step several Southern California cities and counties have taken -- is not likely to be decided for some time.
"We all know that this is headed for appeal, and it's probably going to go all the way up (to the California Supreme Court) unless higher courts reject it," Molloy said.
The city is taking legal action against five dispensaries in all, City Attorney Greg Priamos said earlier this week. Seven others have closed since the city began its enforcement strategy a few months ago, he said.
Medical marijuana supporters have argued that under state law, cities can regulate dispensaries but not ban them outright.
Marijuana use remains prohibited by federal law.
Later Thursday, Nick estimated it could take about 18 months for the issue to be resolved.
Similar cases are also being litigated, including a challenge to Anaheim's dispensary ban that the Fourth District appeals court recently sent back to an Orange County judge, and Los Angeles County's suit against a patients' collective in Covina, a group Nick also represents.
Source: Press Enterprise
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