HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1351-2005ORDINANCE NO. 1351-2005
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MAKING
FINDINGS AND ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM
ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF MEDICAL
MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES, TO BECOME EFFECTIVE
IMMEDIATELY
The City Council of the City of South San Francisco does ordain as follows:
Section 1. Findings
A. In 1996 the voters of the state of California approved Proposition 215 (codified as
Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 et. seq. and entitled "The Compassionate Use Act of
1996").
B. The intent of Proposition 215 was to enable persons who are in need of medical
marijuana for specified medical purposes to obtain and use it under limited, specified circumstances.
C. On January 1, 2004, SB 420 went into effect. SB 420 was enacted by the State to
clarify the scope of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and to allow cities and other governing
bodies to adopt and enforce rules and regulations consistent with SB 420.
D. The South San Francisco Municipal Code and Zoning Code are silent with regard to
the regulation and location of medical marijuana dispensaries.
E. The City of South San Francisco has recently received inquiries regarding the
permitting and establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within the city.
F. In order to address both community and statewide concerns regarding the
establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, it is necessary for the City of South San Francisco
to study the potential impact such facilities may have on the public health, safety and welfare.
G. Other California cities which have permitted the establishment of medical marijuana
dispensaries have recognized an increase in crime, such as burglary, robbery and sale of illegal drugs
in the areas immediately surrounding such medical marijuana dispensaries.
H. The City Council finds that it is necessary to study the possible adoption of
amendments to the City's Zoning Code in order to adopt legislation, which conforms with recently
enacted SB 420 as well as recent state and federal case law.
I. Based on the foregoing, the City Council finds that issuing permits, business licenses
or other applicable entitlements providing for the establishment and/or operation of medical
marijuana dispensaries, prior to the completion of the City's study of the potential impact of such
facilities, poses a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, and that
therefore a temporary moratorium on the issuance of such permits, licenses and entitlements is
necessary.
J. The Chief Planner, in conjunction with the City Manager and the City Attomey, shall
immediately commence to take steps to conduct a study of the potential impacts of medical
marijuana dispensaries and possible amendments to the City's Zoning Code related to medical
marijuana dispensaries.
Section 2. Imposition of Moratorium
A. In accordance with the authority granted the City of South San Francisco under
Government Code Section 65858, from and after the date of this ordinance, no use permit, variance,
building permit, or any other applicable entitlement for use, including but not limited to the issuance
of a business license, shall be approved or issued for the establishment or operation of a medical
marijuana dispensary for a period of 45 days.
B. For purposes of this ordinance, "medical marijuana dispensary" means any facility or
location where a primary caregiver intends to make available, sell, transmit, give, or otherwise
provide medical marijuana to two or more of the following: a qualified patient or a person with an
identification card, or a primary caregiver in strict accordance with Health and Safety Code Section
11362.5 et seq., including but not limited to Health & Safety Code Section 11362.7 (d) (2) and (3).
The terms "primary caregiver", "qualified patient", and "person with an identification card" shall be
as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 et seq.
C. For purposes of this ordinance, a "medical marijuana dispensary" shall not include the
following uses, as-long as the location of such uses are otherwise regulated by applicable law: a
clinic licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 of Division 2 of the Health & Safety Code, a health care facility
licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health & Safety Code, a residential care facility
for persons with chronic life-threatening illness licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.01 of Division 2 of
the Health & Safety Code, a residential care facility for the elderly licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.2
of Division 2 of the Health & Safety Code, a residential hospice, or a home health agency licensed
pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Health & Safety Code, as long as any such use complies strictly with
applicable law including, but not limited to, Health & Safety Code Section 11362.5 et seq.
D. This ordinance is an interim ordinance adopted as an urgency measure pursuant to the
authority granted the City of South San Francisco under Government Code Section 65858 and is for
the immediate preservation of the public safety, health and welfare. The facts constituting the
urgency are: California cities which have permitted the establishment of medical marijuana
dispensaries have recognized that doing so has resulted in the creation of negative secondary effects
such as an increase in crime, including burglary, robbery and the sale of illegal drugs, in the areas
immediately surrounding medical marijuana dispensaries. The City of South San Francisco has
recently received inquiries regarding the permitting and establishment of medical marijuana
dispensaries within the City. The City of South San Francisco does not currently have standards in
the South San Francisco Zoning Code related to the location, operation and concentration of medical
marijuana dispensaries within the City. Absent the adoption of this urgency ordinance, the
establishment and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries in the City would result in the
harmful secondary effects identified above. As a result of the harmful secondary effects associated
with medical marijuana dispensaries and the current and immediate threat such secondary effects
pose to the public health, safety and welfare, it is necessary to, in accordance with Government Code
Section 65858, temporarily establish a 45-day moratorium on the establishment and operation of new
medical marijuana dispensaries in the City pending the completion of the City's study of the
potential impacts of medical marijuana dispensaries and possible amendments to the City's Zoning
Code.
Section 3. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act
The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act
("CEQA") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project
as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines (Title 14, Chapter 3 of the California Code of
Regulations) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly
or indirectly; it prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of the contemplated
Zoning Code review.
Section 4. Severability
If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
invalid, the remainder of the ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other
persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To
this end, provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase hereof
irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs,
sentences, clauses, or phrases be held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable.
Section 5. Effective Date
This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption if adopted by at least four-fifths
vote of the City Council and shall be in effect for forty-five days from the date of adoption unless
extended by the City Council as provided for in the Government Code.
Introduced and adopted as an Ordinance of the City of South San Francisco at a regular
meeting of the City Council held the 11~ day of May 2005, by the following vote:
AYES:
Councilmembers, Richard A. Garbarino, Pedro Gonzalez, and Karyl Matsumoto,
and Mayor Pro Tem Joseph A. Femekes and Mayor Raymond L. Green
NOES: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
ABSENT: None.
-~' City Clerk
As Mayor of the City of South San Francisco, I do hereby approve the foregoing
Ordinance this 11 th day of May 2005.
~r~ ~ Mayor