Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 2010
Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA)
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.presstelegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/244
Author: Paul Eakins
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

9 POT DISPENSARIES COULD CLOSE

The Long Beach City Council will consider tightening its grip on 
medical marijuana collectives and loosening its grip on bicycles at 
Tuesday's meeting.

After deciding last month to rework Long Beach's new medical 
marijuana regulations, the City Council on Tuesday will vote on the 
rewritten ordinance.

The updated law would prohibit collectives from operating within 
1,000 feet of parks - in addition to already being prohibited in 
residential areas, near schools, or within 1,000 feet of other collectives.

Also, the public would have a 45-day period in which to comment about 
a proposed collective location, after which the council would have a 
hearing to determine whether the collective should be allowed.

Collectives would have to install video surveillance systems that 
would allow the police to monitor the outsides of their buildings, 
and their hours of operation would be limited to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
Each collective also would have to submit an annual audited report on 
revenues, expenditures and operational costs.

Changing the law thusly is expected to force the closure of nine of 
the 37 marijuana sites that have advanced through the city's 
permitting process. No permits have actually been issued yet because 
building inspections and other steps are still being completed.

If the council has a change of heart again Tuesday, members could try 
to alter the ordinance further before voting on it.

In addition, the council will vote on whether to enact a one-year 
moratorium on new medical marijuana collective permits. At the end of 
the moratorium, the city would consider how the law has worked and 
whether it needs to be changed.

Voluntary bike registration

While the council is making it harder for medical marijuana 
collectives to operate, three council members want to make it easier 
for cyclists to ride the streets.

Councilman Robert Garcia, supported by council members Suja Lowenthal 
and Gary DeLong, is asking the council to have the city manager 
report within 30 days on the feasibility, costs and benefits of 
eliminating Long Beach's bicycle registration requirement. Garcia 
said the registration process is too burdensome and unnecessary, and 
that it should be voluntary only.

Currently, the city requires that bicyclists register, giving their 
names, addresses, bicycle serial numbers and other information, each 
in turn receiving a registration sticker that goes on the bike.

Registering hasn't been easy.

Though it just takes a few minutes and $3, getting a bike license 
requires going to a fire station between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday or 
Sunday - and hoping that the firefighters there aren't out on a call. 
The city also recently began offering bike licenses at some community 
centers and at the Bikestation downtown.

Riders can be ticketed by the police for not having their bikes 
registered, though police say the main reason for requiring licenses 
is so that they can more easily identify stolen bikes.

Garage conversion law

On Dec. 14, 2007, three young Long Beach sisters died in a fire in a 
garage that had been illegally converted into a residence. Following 
the fire, the city cracked down on illegal garage conversions.

Now, Councilman Dee Andrews is asking the council to name a section 
of Long Beach's municipal code that addresses illegal garage 
conversions after the sisters, Jasmine, Jocelyn and Stephanie Aviles.

The garage ordinance would become known as "Aviles Law," which 
Andrews says will help educate the public and reinforce the dangers 
of illegal, unpermitted and dangerous garage conversions.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom