Rainbow CPG hears county staff presentation on proposed marijuana ordinance

The Rainbow Community Planning Group held a special meeting, Feb. 24, on the county’s proposed marijuana dispensary and cultivation ordinance. Although any recommendation was deferred, possibly to the next regular meeting, March 17, the planning group heard a presentation from county planner Donald Chase while planning group members and members of the public provided input to Chase and asked questions.

“We’re doing this to keep things in some sort of order,” Paul Georgantas, chair of Rainbow Community Planning Group, said.

On Jan. 27, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, with Jim Desmond opposed, to direct the development of Zoning Ordinance and Regulatory Code amendments which would repeal the existing ordinances.

The supervisors directed that county staff report back to the board within 90 days with an update including any regulatory changes which could be implemented during that time and return to the board with a draft ordinance and policies within 180 days.

“We’ll come back again once we have more formulated recommendations,” Chase said.

Specific limits may be proposed based on input received.

“The goal of our outreach is to receive public comment,” Chase said. “We want to make sure that we’re providing opportunities for our full spectrum of stakeholders.”

Chase said that while the regulations regarding dispensaries and cultivation will likely change, the enforcement activities are not expected to be changed. He noted that three types of enforcement exist: code enforcement for zoning or other code violations, law enforcement for criminal violations and criminal justice enforcement to punish violators. Chase indicated that the county would look at complaint and crime statistics in the development of the ordinance.

“We have deep concerns about the ability of the county to enforce a program,” planning group member Lynne Malinowski said.

The state is responsible for tracking, tracing and testing marijuana to ensure that it meets standards and that no marijuana is missing during the supply chain process from cultivation to retail sales. Chase added that state oversight includes cultivators, transport personnel, distributors and financial partners.

“The state monitors every person who’s involved in the operation,” he said.

The data the county is collecting also includes information about other jurisdictions' marijuana ordinances.

“We really have received some good information from other jurisdictions,” Chase said.

The county Board of Supervisors members are not obliged to adopt policies from other jurisdictions, but Chase noted those include addressing California Environmental Quality Act requirements before the passage of the ordinance rather than with the application for individual dispensaries or cultivation facilities, setbacks from sensitive sites including residences, setbacks between dispensaries, limits on the number of licenses and cultivation acreage limits.

Chase said that the county has previously utilized a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report rather than individual application environmental statements for the tiered winery ordinance, the tiered equine ordinance and the agriculture promotion program.

The preference to past offenders is an issue for planning group member Jon Gorr.

“I don’t understand the logic of that in particular,” he said. “There is something inherently wrong with this whole approach.”

Debbie Arce, who lives in Fallbrook and has a legal and regulated marijuana manufacturing business on the Santa Ysabel Indian Reservation, said that past offenders likely don’t have the business acumen to operate a dispensary but that well-funded investors might use the past offender as a front to obtain a dispensary license.

Liquor licenses are limited, and Gorr said that those are often transferred through the competitive offer most lucrative for the seller.

“I don’t think it should be a limited number of licenses for top dollar,” he said of dispensary licenses.

Planning group member Lee Taussig suggested that the county confer with the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

“I think we should go to them and let them help us figure out what the rules are going to be,” he said.

The county of San Diego will be applying Riverside County’s experience about that county’s ordinances.

“We’re definitely going to sit down with them,” Chase said.

At one time the Santa Ysabel Indian Reservation had a casino and, after that closed, the space in that building was rented for cannabis activity under the oversight of the Santa Ysabel Tribal Cannabis Regulatory Agency.

“I’d love to not have to drive 50 minutes on a windy road,” Arce said.

Arce assured the planning group that a licensed cannabis business requires review by government entities beforehand.

“A license is not an easy process by any means. It’s not a cheap process,” she said.

“It’s expensive. It’s arduous. It’s a lot of paperwork,” Arce said. “It’s extensive what they make us go through in order to get a license.”

During 2016 county Planning Commission hearings on the county’s marijuana ordinance county, staff confirmed that any cultivation rights would be subservient to groundwater restrictions. Arce said that Santa Ysabel groundwater issues impact marijuana businesses there.

“There are cultivators out there that are bringing their own water,” she said.

Arce’s facility is less than 1,000 square feet, and her business has never had more than five employees. Although the proposed county ordinance allows for on-premise consumption, Arce said that parking lot consumption would be unlikely. “They’re going to have security guards,” she said. “They don’t want any problem. These are licensed places.”

Marijuana businesses must track drivers and keep transport records.

“They treat us like we’re moving plutonium,” Arce said.

Arce said that licensed dispensaries dislike competition from the black market, so those dispensaries rather than citizens may provide the complaints about illegal operation.

“It’s just a matter of time before somebody calls the sheriff,” she said.

One of the unincorporated county’s existing dispensaries is on Nelson Way on the Bonsall-Escondido border, and the city of Vista also has a dispensary.

“There are licensed dispensaries not too far from you,” Virginia Casey said. “A regulated controlled cannabis industry is actually the best protection against the unlicensed market.”

The Vallecitos School District has not taken a position on any aspect of the ordinance, but Vallecitos superintendent Maritza Koeppen, who is also the principal of Vallecitos Elementary School, wants to limit cannabis use near children.

“We’re right next to a community park, so I worry that there would be some consumption there,” she said.

Koeppen said she hoped a separation distance accounts for secondhand smoke.

“Our kids are outside playing, and I don’t know how far that would travel,” she said.

Timely law enforcement response is also a concern of Koeppen’s.

“It already takes them 20 minutes,” she said.

“The stakeholders want to figure out what might be the right number of facilities for their community,” Chase said. “We do want to explore and recommend a right-size approach.”

The community input will be incorporated into the draft ordinance.

“The next step is to formalize what's going to be in the overall approach,” Chase said.

The planning group will await more refined county provisions before making a recommendation.

“We look forward to being very active in the future,” Georgantas said.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].