Pubdate: Fri, 18 Sep 2009
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Note: Does not publish letters from outside their circulation area.
Author: John Ellis

FRESNO TRIES NEW TACK ON POT SHOPS

City Goes After Landlords, Asks Them To Evict Dispensaries.

Fresno is taking a new approach in its effort to keep medical 
marijuana dispensaries from opening up in the city: going after the landlords.

The city is asking property owners to evict the dispensaries. In 
return, the city will end legal action against them.

Fresno attorney Richard Runcie, who is representing two dispensaries 
- -- Earthsource and Central Valley Collective -- accused the city of 
trying to do "an end run" around the legal proceedings by "trying to 
scare the landlords."

Doug Sloane, an assistant city attorney, disagreed.

The city of Fresno has sued nine dispensaries, their owners and the 
landlords housing them, and is asking a Fresno County Superior Court 
judge to order the dispensaries closed. The city argues the 
dispensaries violate city ordinances that require such businesses to 
adhere to both state and federal laws.

Although California voters in 1996 passed an initiative permitting 
medical marijuana use in the state, federal law still considers 
marijuana possession a crime.

The landlords -- who were named in the city's legal action along with 
the dispensaries -- have approached the city about settling the legal 
action. The city is willing, Sloan said, if the property owner 
cancels the lease and agrees not to allow dispensaries on any 
properties they own in Fresno.

Sloan mentioned the city's new effort Thursday in Fresno County 
Superior Court, where a planned hearing was delayed.

The reason for the delay: the court couldn't determine whether all 
the parties involved in the city's legal action -- businesses, 
business owners and landlords -- had been notified of the hearing.

A frustrated Judge Alan Simpson scheduled another hearing for Oct. 8. 
In doing so, he indicated that he was leaning in favor of Fresno's position.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder said federal agents 
would stop raiding medical marijuana distributors that comply with 
their state laws.

After Holder's announcement, new dispensaries popped up around the 
state, prompting a concerted effort to stop their spread, Runcie 
said. He said the League of California Cities has become a "brief 
bank" for its members, sharing information on shutting down the dispensaries.

One of the legal tactics is to "scare" the landlords, he said.

Sloan, however, suggested many landlords were unaware that they 
leased their property to a dispensary. That alone is grounds to 
cancel a lease, he said.

One of those landlords was Antonio Parra, who owns a property in the 
1000 block of North Abby, where a dispensary is operating.

A baffled Parra drove down from the Bay Area, still unclear what the 
legal summons meant. One thing is certain, he said: His tenants will 
be evicted.

He said they told him they would be operating "farmers' offices."

Fresno attorney Michael McGinnis, who is representing Compassionate 
Outreach, said the city is infringing on constitutional rights of 
individuals "under the guise of enforcing a zoning statute. It's sinister."

Added Sean Dwyer, the owner of California Herbal Relief Center, a 
Tower District dispensary: "The city trying to get this injunction to 
shut us down, even though we are in compliance with state law. They 
made that ordinance specifically to ban medical marijuana 
dispensaries in the city."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart