Laguna Woods says no to pot shops – 9 years…
Laguna Woods says no to pot shops – 9 years after becoming first city in Orange County to OK them
Clone seedlings at CARE Mutual in Lake Forest. The Laguna Woods City Council on Wednesday, April 19 unanimously approved an ordinance that bans medical and non-medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
By Emily Rasmussen | erasmussen@scng.com | Long Beach Press-Telegram
PUBLISHED: April 20, 2017 at 2:55 p.m. | UPDATED: April 21, 2017 at 2:09 p.m.
LAGUNA WOODS The City Council on Wednesday, April 19 unanimously approved an ordinance that bans medical and non-medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
The action comes about nine years after Laguna Woods became the first city in Orange County to pass an ordinance — by unanimous council vote — allowing medical marijuana dispensaries.
The City Council's primary reason for prohibiting dispensaries was a potential increase in law enforcement costs, officials said. According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, cities that have marijuana dispensaries tend to have increased crime rates and therefore need more police officers to respond to calls, City Attorney David Cosgrove said.
"We need to be very sensitive to the potential increases in our law enforcement costs that might result from a different distribution of demand for police services," Cosgrove said.
Law enforcement accounts for about half of the city's budget, said Mayor Shari Horne, who added that for her, passing the ordinance was made with a "heavy heart.".
"If any city should have a dispensary, it should be this city," Horne said. "Cannabis takes care of many of the side effects from the medications many seniors take, our residents find great value in this."
Council members in 2008 passed an ordinance that allowed medical marijuana dispensaries. Although no dispensaries ever opened in the city, the Laguna Woods Medical Cannabis Club has a medical marijuana cooperative, and it may run into issues with regulations in the statewide Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which goes into effect January 2018, City Manager Chris Macon said.
Council members agreed that potential increased costs in law enforcement could affect other budgeted areas such as transportation and other city programs.
"The city has certain responsibilities and certain abilities under law; I think what we've tried to do is balance those competing demands," Macon said.
The city will continue to allow the delivery of medical and non-medical marijuana for qualified patients and customers of dispensaries in nearby cities.
Building, planning and encroachment fees
The council unanimously approved a resolution to modify building, planning and encroachment permit fees.
"I appreciate the fact that we are revisiting this fee schedule on a regular basis," Councilwoman Cynthia Conners said. "It prevents sticker shock if we wait five or six years to adjust our fees and it keeps our fee schedule in line with our actual costs to make our budgeting easier."
The new fee schedule will go into effect June 19.
Willow Tree Center sign program
An application by The Floyd Co. to allow various signage at the Willow Tree Center was unanimously approved by the council. The program allows four signs, for effectiveness and appearance, that will feature each of the tenant's names visible from different areas of the shopping center on El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway.
Emily Rasmussen | Reporter
Emily Rasmussen is an alumna of the Cal State Long Beach Journalism Department. After graduating, she worked as an editor for a couple of weekly newspapers and was a contributing writer for the Orange County Register. She became a reporter for the Southern California News Group in 2018.
erasmussen@scng.com
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