Pubdate: Mon, 27 Aug 2012
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2012 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: Blake Herzog

RANCHO MIRAGE DISPENSARY ISSUE TO GO BEFORE JUDGE

Rancho Mirage - The struggle between the city and a medical marijuana 
dispensary it shut down through a temporary restraining order is 
expected to return to court today.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Evans granted the order 
Aug. 6, because the Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center, doing 
business as All Valley Desert Cooperative, had opened without a 
certificate of occupancy or business license from the city. Evans 
will hear arguments today on whether the temporary order should be 
extended into a preliminary injunction until the trial begins.

Dispensary attorney Joseph Rhea said in his opposition to the 
preliminary injunction, filed Aug. 16, that an employee who brought 
applications for the certificate and business license was told by two 
city staffers at the counter the permits would never be granted.

"Indeed, it was made clear to the All Valley employee that the 
'generally applicable requirement' that each business have a 
certificate of occupancy and business license is a charade when the 
applicant is a medical marijuana collective or cooperative," Rhea wrote.

Rhea said the round, two-story glass building at 72-067 Highway 111 
passed an inspection by the Riverside County Fire Department Aug. 15.

But Deputy City Attorney Nicholas Hermsen said in his response filed 
Wednesday city code inspectors did look at the building and found it 
lacked a marked handicapped parking spot and other requirements for 
disabled accessibility.

He also said All Valley's argument its members would not have access 
to medical marijuana during an extended closure was refuted by a 
statement found under its listing on the Weedmaps dispensary locator 
website that delivery is available.

"There is no evidence in the record whatsoever indicating that any of 
Defendant's members will not be able to obtain medical marijuana," 
Hermsen said.

He said the reception Jensen got at the city didn't necessarily mean 
the application process was "futile" for dispensaries, since 
decisions made there are appealable to city commissions, and 
ultimately the City Council.

Rhea did not return calls Friday seeking reaction to the city's 
rejection of the application.

Rancho Mirage banned dispensaries in 2011, but the law was ruled 
unconstitutional by a different Riverside County judge.

That decision is under appeal, while cities and counties throughout 
California await a ruling from the state Supreme Court on whether 
they can adopt total bans on dispensaries.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom