LAKE COUNTY — The Board of Supervisors (BOS) Tuesday directed staff to move forward with the abatement process to shut down all medical marijuana dispensaries in the county”s jurisdiction.
The 4-1 decision came after yet another divisive discussion about the issue at the Lake County Courthouse. District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing dissented.
The BOS approved an ordinance in August that established regulations to allow five dispensaries to operate in the unincorporated areas of Lake County.
“We didn”t pass that ordinance planning on it being overturned,” BOS Chair Jim Comstock said Tuesday.
But that”s exactly what happened soon after a group of advocates collected signatures as part of a referendum petition against the ordinance before the law took effect.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley determined enough valid signatures had been gathered and presented her certification to the BOS in October.
At that time, the supervisors voted to rescind the ordinance, a move that made dispensaries illegal in the county”s jurisdiction.
Community Development Director Rick Coel said courtesy notices were posted at all 10 dispensaries and mailed to property owners in early November. The letters gave the dispensaries 30 days to close up shop or likely face enforcement action.
County staff made no moves regarding dispensaries as the original deadline passed while the supervisors debated how the process should proceed. That discussion began last week and ended late Tuesday afternoon with direction to staff to continue the abatement process.
Coel said a notice of nuisance and order to abate will be posted on all currently operating dispensaries and mailed to the property owners during the next week.
Any dispensary still open will have 30 days to close. About three weeks into that period, the BOS will conduct an abatement hearing regarding the shop if the operators did not voluntarily shut it down, according to Coel.
Coel said he believes seven dispensaries are still open in the unincorporated county though one could be in the process of converting into a retail store. Several others had shut down after the courtesy notices were issued.
The impending closure of the dispensaries dismayed many of the people who attended Tuesday”s BOS meeting.
Nearly 15 attendees spoke to the supervisors and a majority of them said closing the dispensaries would negatively impact the ability of qualified medical marijuana users to safely access the product.
Others said the county had no choice but to outlaw the dispensaries, in part because of the U.S. government”s stance on marijuana and federal agencies recently taking enforcement actions against some pot shops in California.
In the end, a majority of the supervisors seemed reluctant to continue a debate that had already raged for more than two years by trying to figure out a way to allow some dispensaries to operate in light of the failed ordinance.
“We have beat this thing to death,” District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said.
