Pubdate: Wed, 12 Aug 2009
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2009 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://local2.thedesertsun.com/mailer/opinionwrap.php
Website: http://www.mydesert.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
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Author: Marcel Honore, The Desert Sun

JUDGE UPHOLDS CITY'S POT ORDINANCE

A legal challenge to Palm Spring's recent ordinance regulating 
medical marijuana collectives was overruled Tuesday by a Riverside 
County Superior Court judge, court records show.

Judge Harold W. Hopp's decision to uphold Palm Spring's "authority to 
enact reasonable zoning restrictions" on collectives leaves the fate 
of several collectives in the city up in the air, said J. David Nick, 
attorney for Palm Springs-based The Holistic Collective.

The collective, at 2235 N. Palm Canyon Drive, filed a June 4 
demurrer, which Hopp overruled. The collective challenged the 
legality of a city ordinance enacted in April that limits the number 
of collectives to two and prohibits them from operating outside of 
industrial and manufacturing zones.

Palm Springs is the only city in Riverside County to pass a law 
allowing medical marijuana dispensaries.

The state laws on dispensaries should trump any local laws, Nick said 
Tuesday. Hopp's decision, however, found the state laws to be 
"limited in scope, exempting medical users and their primary 
caregivers from criminal liability."

The Holistic Collective's demurrer was a response to a complaint the 
city filed against the collective in April. The suit alleges Holistic 
violated Palm Spring's 2006 moratorium on pot dispensaries, and that 
it later operated without the proper permits under the April 
ordinance, according to Deputy City Attorney Ben Ammerman.

Holistic was among several collectives operating in the city before 
the April ordinance, Ammerman said.

The city received by its July 6 deadline 11 applications to fill the 
two collective slots allowed under the ordinance, according to 
Director of Planning Services Craig Ewing. The City Council is 
expected to select up to two collective operators from the applicants 
this fall, Ewing said.

Holistic is considering its next legal move, Nick said Tuesday. It 
could file a writ with the 4th District Court of Appeals, or it could 
challenge the legality of limiting the city's number of collectives. 
Hopp's decision did not address specifically that issue, Nick and 
Ammerman said. 
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