The Issue Drew One of the Largest Crowds of the Past Year to a City Council Meeting Medical marijuana advocates in San Luis Obispo triumphed Tuesday night against an ordinance that would have severely restricted their rights to grow and distribute marijuana within city limits. In front of a packed audience, the San Luis Obispo City Council voted 4-1 to table a proposed law that would have banned mobile dispensaries and prohibited marijuana plants from being grown outside. Instead, the council decided not to ban the dispensaries and directed city staff to search for ways to deal with egregious cases of marijuana cultivation that may cause a public nuisance. [continues 590 words]
The San Luis Obispo City Council will consider a new law Tuesday that would put strict limits on medical marijuana users within the city. The ordinance, if passed, would prohibit qualified patients or caregivers - those people with a doctor's written recommendation - from growing marijuana outside and limit growing indoors to an area of no more than 50 square feet. The law would also ban mobile marijuana dispensaries from operating in the city. The proposed regulations stem from a complaint made to the City Council in November 2013 by neighbors living next door to a house in downtown San Luis Obispo where residents were growing 12 6-foot-tall marijuana plants in the backyard. [continues 561 words]
Supervisors Are Unanimous Against The Center; Ovitt Says 'The Community Is Not Accepting It' By AnnMarie Cornejo County supervisors Tuesday barred a medical marijuana dispensary planned for Templeton, saying it was too close to a playground and did not fit with the character of the community. The Board of Supervisors' 5-0 vote upheld two appeals that were filed after the county Planning Commission voted in January to allow the North County Resource Center to open. "The biggest part of this whole thing is that the community is not accepting it," said Supervisor Harry Ovitt, whose district includes Templeton. He added that the lack of oversight of marijuana dispensaries contributed to his vote against the one proposed for Templeton. [continues 450 words]
For the Second Time, County Planners Reach No Decision on the Ramada Drive Site in Templeton; Action on a Permit Is Postponed Until January County planning commissioners on Monday failed again to reach a decision on a proposed medical marijuana dispensary in Templeton. In July, the Planning Commission deadlocked 2-2 in a disagreement over exactly how far the dispensary--proposed for a Ramada Drive industrial park--would be from a park across Highway 101. Before Monday's commission meeting, applicant Austen Connella asked that the decision on a permit for the proposed 1,450-square-foot cannabis co-op be delayed because all five commissioners couldn't be present. [continues 428 words]
