LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) Tuesday ordered what county staff believes to be last operating dispensary in the unincorporated area to cease operations.
The BOS deemed pot clubs were illegal land-uses in the county”s jurisdiction and directed staff to proceed with the abatement process to shut them down in December.
The supervisors” decision came after they responded to a successful referendum petition by rescinding the ordinance they passed last summer that established regulations under which dispensaries could operate.
Of the 10 clubs open when the ordinance passed, only one — Visions of Avatar in unincorporated Lakeport — remains in operation, according to Community Development Director Rick Coel.
Coel testified Tuesday at the Lake County Courthouse during a nuisance abatement hearing before the BOS.
Peggy Dimauro, the tenant at 90A Soda Bay Road and reported operator of Visions of Avatar, was also sworn in but chose not to comment about what is currently happening at the property.
“She declines to answer on Fifth Amendment grounds,” Dimauro”s attorney, Mitchell Hauptman, said following each in a series of questions posed by deputy county counsel Robert Weiss, who represented the Community Development Department during the hearing.
Property owner Gordon Worra was not present.
Coel said he did not go inside the building and had no personal knowledge about whether the dispensary is still operating, other than what he read as recently as Tuesday on an active website attributed to Visions of Avatar.
“We have evidence that Visions of Avatar continues to operate as a medical marijuana dispensary. Their website is still up,” Coel said. He later added that he had no knowledge about who operates the website or when the information was posted.
Coel said there was “no indication from the property owner or Ms. Dimauro that she was no longer operating as a dispensary.”
He also testified about receiving complaints from former dispensaries operators, which “have all gone along the lines of, ”if the county doesn”t shut down Visions of Avatar, we”re going to reopen.””
Coel said the Visions of Avatar case was delayed in part because a typographical error resulted in the wrong property owner being notified.
Fred Langston, a challenger for District 4 Supervisor in the June election, provided testimony and described the potential impact of the BOS shutting down Visions of Avatar.
“If we close this last dispensary, you are telling those patients out there that need this, ”we don”t care about you.” That”s the signal you”re sending. I know it”s not true, but that”s the signal you”re going to send,” Langston said.
Joan Moss, a candidate for District 5 Supervisor, also spoke in support of keeping Visions of Avatar open.
“Nobody is trying to deny access,” District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said.
The BOS voted 4-1 to adopt the order to abate nuisances at the property and authorize county staff to abate if the owner or operator does not voluntarily shut down the dispensary by May 21.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing dissented, saying there was “insufficient evidence without a site visit.”
Dimauro declined to comment after the hearing.
