CLEARLAKE >> At a special meeting Wednesday, the Clearlake City Council took action on an urgency ordinance to effectively block the establishment of any new tobacco-related businesses, including hookah and so-called “vapor lounges,” within Clearlake. According to City Manager Greg Folsom, the moratorium is meant as a temporary stopgap (it will need renewal in 45 days and can only be renewed for up to two years) to allow the council time to take more permanent action against new tobacco businesses. Folsom told the Record-Bee that at least one application had been made recently for a “smoke shop” in the city, which motivated him to propose the urgency ordinance. Councilmember Nick Bennett described the action taken as a matter of “public health.” In fact, the moratorium required the City Council to “find that there is a current and immediate threat to the public health” in order to stop new tobacco businesses from opening.
An urgency ordinance like this also requires a four out of five vote in its favor. The council found immediate threat to the public health and voted unanimously in the affirmative Wednesday, carrying the motion into action effective immediately. No public comment was made on this issue.
Mayor Bruno Sabatier commented that he had “seen businesses pop up and go away, and it just doesn’t have the right flow of what businesses we should be seeing and where they should be, so I think this is the right idea so that we can have better control of when and where.”
Prior to this moratorium, tobacco businesses, according to Folsom, had a “by right” ability to “go wherever they want, and the city [had] no authority.” When further action is taken by the council, it will, per the discussion Wednesday, amend the city’s zoning code to govern where tobacco-related businesses can open, but will not entirely ban such businesses within the city.
The City Council also signed a letter Wednesday expressing its support of the partnership underway between Adventist Health—including Adventist Health in Clearlake—and St. Joseph Health. Both are multi-state health companies that currently operate in Lake County. Their plans for partnership began April 23, 2018. According to Adventist Health on that day, “Adventist Health and St. Joseph Health announced an agreement today to integrate clinical activities and services through a new joint operating company. The partnership will extend across clinics and facilities in Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake, Napa and Solano counties. The proposed arrangement is subject to regulatory review.” With letters of support from city councils like Clearlake’s, the partnership will proceed to be reviewed by California’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra.
Marianne Taylor of Adventist Health Clearlake stated Wednesday that “both organizations retain autonomy” in the partnership, but stressed that it was “a great way for our current patients to be able to broaden their network. It’s better for their insurance and their billing, and it’s another way for us to provide them with more specialty care.”
The council decided unanimously to sign the letter of support.
