FCPG recommends separation distances, Village zone ban for marijuana dispensaries

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Fallbrook Community Planning Group approved recommendations on the county's proposed cannabis ordinance revisions.

During the Aug. 16 meeting, the planning group recommended a 1,000-foot separation between dispensaries and sensitive sites and also recommended that dispensaries not be allowed in the Fallbrook Village zones. The sensitive sites are defined as public and private schools, child care centers, parks, playgrounds, sports activity venues, libraries, and churches.

"We figured it was just the best solution," said planning group chair Eileen Delaney.

Delaney became the planning group chair when Jack Wood resigned due to relocation outside of the planning area. Delaney had been the chair of the planning group's Ad Hoc Cannabis Ordinance Committee which was created at the Feb. 15 planning group meeting and, when Delaney took over as the planning group chair, Kim Murphy took over as the chair of the ad hoc committee.

"I feel like we found kind of a compromise common ground," Murphy said.

A 4-1 Board of Supervisors vote Jan. 27, with Jim Desmond opposed, directed the development of Zoning Ordinance and Regulatory Code amendments which would repeal the existing ordinance restricting medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries and cultivation, allow the sale of edible and drinkable as well as smokable cannabis products, allow cannabis retail sales in areas with commercial and industrial zoning, allow cannabis cultivation in agriculturally-zoned areas, allow cannabis product manufacturing, distribution, and testing in industrial-zoned areas, and allow for a cannabis microbusiness license in areas with agricultural, commercial, or industrial zoning.

The amendments would also create a "social equity" program which gives individuals with past cannabis arrests and those in "disproportionately impacted areas" greater opportunities to secure an operating permit, allow for on-site consumption of cannabis products at specified cannabis facilities and permitted events, reduce the separation requirements for a dispensary, require a "labor peace agreement" with a labor union for every tenth employee at a cannabis facility, seek grant funding to implement the social equity program, and exclude cannabis from the medical pre-screening process for county employees.

When the Board of Supervisors adopted the county's medical marijuana ordinance in 2010, dispensaries were restricted to land with industrial M50, M52, M54, and M58 zoning. That was based on the adult entertainment ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2002; adult entertainment sites had previously been allowed in areas with commercial zoning, but in 2001 an administrative permit was granted for a topless dancing facility in unincorporated El Cajon across from a shopping center which included a children's dance studio, an arcade, and a pizza parlor.

The setbacks would accomplish the same purpose as restricting dispensaries to areas with industrial zoning. "We decided the thousand foot setback was a reasonable ordinance. It protects our children," Murphy said.

"We want to work with the community," Delaney said.

In 2003, the Board of Supervisors approved five zoning classifications specific to Fallbrook. The zoning and associated regulations for the business district are intended to promote and preserve the village character, create a pedestrian-friendly environment for residents and visitors, and encourage the growth of Fallbrook's art industry. Uses which were in effect prior to the 2003 adoption of the Fallbrook Village zoning are allowed to continue in those locations.