Monterey City Council OKs moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries

The emergency ordinance set a 45-day moratorium and could be extended.

The law needed a supermajority of four councilmembers to be enacted as an emergency measure. It received initial approval Jan. 19.

The issue arose with the opening of the medical marijuana dispensary MyCaregiver Inc. at 554 Lighthouse Ave. in November.

City Attorney Deborah Mall and Assistant City Manager Fred Cohn, who served MyCaregiver with a cease-and-desist order, said the nature of the business was not fully disclosed when its business license was applied for. The original application listed MyCaregiver Inc. as a "Health care Cooperative/Individual & Family Services."

Under the moratorium, any application by MyCaregiver for a license would not be processed until the moratorium expired, Cohn said.

Haferman voted against the moratorium, not, he said last month, because he disagreed with the idea of a freeze on permits, but because MyCaregiver Inc. would have to shut down during the moratorium.

Mall noted in drawing up the ordinance that the state Court of Appeal ruled in favor of a similar moratorium imposed by the city of Claremont, and that another case in Anaheim involving an outright ban is pending an appellate court decision.

In other action, the council approved transfer of $1.7million in Neighborhood Improvement Program funds to the city general fund to cover the cost of city operations and maintenance during the coming year.

The city faces a budget gap of $1.7 million in the current fiscal year ending June 30, and projects another $3.6 million gap in fiscal 2010-11.

The council also voted final approval of an updated ordinance regulating smoking in public places.

The state prohibits smoking in places of employment, playgrounds, day care facilities, schools and public buildings.

In addition to the areas, the city ordinance prohibits smoking on the Monterey Recreational Trail; beaches; enclosed buildings open to the public, including covered parking garages; buses, taxicabs, shuttles and other public transportation; city owned vehicles; outdoor service areas, including ATM lines, ticket lines, bus stops and transit depot waiting areas; and any location that the property or business owner declares to be non-smoking.

The ordinance covers indoor places of employment not covered by state law: retail or wholesale tobacco shops, meeting and banquet rooms in a hotel or motel, warehouse facilities, hotel or motel lobbies, and small businesses where smoking would otherwise be permitted without the city regulation.

Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe [at] montereyherald.com