Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jan 2016
Source: Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA)
Copyright: 2016 Appeal-Democrat
Contact: 
https://appeal-democrat-dot-com.bloxcms-ny1.com/site/forms/online_services/letter/
Website: http://www.appeal-democrat.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1343
Author: Eric Vodden

DISPENSARY FOES CRY FOUL OVER CITY EMAIL

An anti-marijuana group against a proposed Marysville cannabis 
dispensary ordinance claims the city is manipulating the process to 
favor locating a facility in a vacant building along B Street.

Buck Weckman of Families Against Cannabis Trafficking cited a 
December email from City Manager Walter Munchheimer to City Council 
members as evidence of a "behind closed doors manipulation of the process ..."

He said the email shows a "predetermined decision shutting out the 
general public and favoring a few special interests" in support of a 
dispensary/grow in the old Cargill plant between Third and 12th streets.

Weckman would not say how he obtained a copy of the email. Earlier 
this month, he also filed a Public Information Act request with the 
city seeking marijuana-related letters or emails from or to the city 
back to last Nov. 1.

The allegation comes as the City Council is scheduled Tuesday night 
to consider final adoption of separate cultivation and dispensary 
ordinances. The council last month voted 3-2 to approve the first 
reading of the regulations.

The cultivation ordinance would ban marijuana growing in the city 
limits except for when it is grown in connection with a dispensary. 
It stems from state legislation requiring cities without existing 
cultivation ordinances to pass regulations by March.

The dispensary ordinance would allow two licensed dispensaries 
outside specified distances from schools and parks. Dispensaries 
would need conditional use permits, meaning they would have to go 
before the planning commission and council before they could open.

Munchheimer's email describes a meeting of city staffers and owners 
of the former Cargill building on the possibility of locating a 
dispensary there. The building is owned by Highmark Land Co., LLC, 
which lists its mailing address at Aztec Real Estate and Development 
Co. in Yuba City.

The email says city staffers "were advised that at least three 
council members had already indicated to the owners a willingness to 
allow a dispensary and cultivation operation at that location ..."

"In subsequent telephone conversations with a majority of you 
(council members), I confirmed that you were indeed willing to see 
that happen," Munchheimer's email states.

In a separate conversation Wednesday, Munchheimer noted the Cargill 
building is the largest industrial building in the city, but has been 
vacant for many years. He said he was contacted by Aztec Development 
President John Ochipinti, who was gauging city interest in allowing a 
dispensary at the site.

"I didn't seek them out," Munchheimer said. "I got a call from 
Ochipiniti just like the many calls I get all the time from developers."

Ochipinti could not be reached to discuss the matter.

Marysville Mayor Ricky Samayoa voted in support of both ordinances last month.

"More than anything it shows the council is going to look at all the 
options," Samayoa said of the email. "More than anything it is an opportunity.

"But it doesn't mean that it's going to happen there. There will be 
many hurdles. It was just something that came up."

Angelique Perez, owner of Two Chix Garden Supply in Marysville, 
confirmed she has discussed with owners the possibility of opening a 
dispensary in the Cargill plant. Perez is one of two sponsors of a 
Yuba County initiative on the June ballot that would lessen 
restrictions on the county's cultivation ordinance that bans outdoor grows.

But Perez said Thursday she doesn't have any current plans to apply 
for a dispensary at the site.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom