Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2007
Source: Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Record
Contact:  http://www.recordnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/428
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

ARBITER RULES TRACY POT CLUB CLOSED

TRACY - A medical-marijuana dispensary doing business in a downtown 
storefront is in violation of the city's zoning laws, an independent 
arbiter has ruled.

The Valley Wellness Center Collective, which has sold medical 
marijuana since October to about 200 patients at 130 W. 11th St., is 
in violation of the city's municipal code and has until Feb. 9 to 
move out, ruled arbiter Jeanne Schechter, who heard the club's Jan. 4 
appeal of a city-issued closure order. Schechter, Merced's chief 
deputy city attorney, is in a pool of city attorneys on which Tracy 
draws to conduct administrative hearings.

James Anthony, the dispensary's attorney, called the ruling "poorly 
reasoned" and said he is waiting to hear if the club's operators want 
to appeal Schechter's ruling in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

"I don't think they've decided yet whether they want to appeal or 
not," Anthony said.

If the club does appeal, Anthony said, he will ask for a court order 
to keep the city from taking any enforcement action until the appeal is heard.

The city's legal team will defend a lawsuit if the club appeals in 
court, city spokesman Matt Robinson said.

"We're just going to have to wait and see what they do," Robinson said.

The city has no laws specifically prohibiting dispensaries but 
considers them an illegal use since they are not addressed in the 
city's zoning code. The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office 
considers medical-marijuana dispensaries illegal.

The club might face fines for each day it remains in operation past 
the city's Nov. 22 order to discontinue selling marijuana, though the 
city would need to schedule another hearing to determine the amount 
of the fine, Robinson said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman