HomeMy WebLinkAbout561 ORDINANCE 561
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS
AMENDING SECTIONS 10-1.202, 10-1.701 AND 10-1.801 AND ADDING
SECTIONS 10-1.706 AND 10-1.804 TO THE LOS ALTOS HILLS
MUNICIPAL CODE PROHIBITING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES, MEDICAL MARIJUANA OR
CANNABIS CULTIVATION, INCLUDING PERSONAL CULTIVATION,
AND ALL COMMERCIAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA OR CANNABIS
OPERATIONS WITHIN THE TOWN LIMITS
WHEREAS, in 1996, the voters of the State of California approved Proposition 215
(known as the Compassionate Use Act ("CUA")), adding section 11362.5 to the California
Health& Safety Code; and
WHEREAS, on January 1, 2004, the State Legislature enacted the "Medical Marijuana
Program" ("MMP"), codified as Health & Safety Code sections 11362.7 to 11362.83, clarifying
the scope of the CUA and establishing a voluntary program for identification cards issued by
counties for qualified patients and primary caregivers, and provide criminal immunity to
qualified patients and primary caregivers for certain activities involving medical marijuana,
including the collective or cooperative cultivation of medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously in City of Riverside v.
Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center, Inc. (2013) 56 CalAth 729, that the CUA
and the MMP do not preempt local ordinances that completely and permanently ban medical
marijuana dispensaries, collectives, and cooperatives; and
WHEREAS, in Maral v. City of Live Oak(2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 975, the Third District
Court of Appeal held, based on Inland Empire, that there was no right to cultivate medical
marijuana and that a city could implement and enforce a complete ban on this activity, including
a ban on personal cultivation; and
WHEREAS, on October 9, 2015, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bills 243 and 266
and Senate Bill 643 (collectively known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act or
"MMRSA"), which taken together create a broad state regulatory and licensing system
governing the cultivation, testing, and distribution of medical marijuana, the manufacturing of
marijuana products, and physician recommendations for medical marijuana, and provide
immunity to marijuana businesses operating with both a state license and a local permit; and
WHEREAS, while the new legislation expressly preserves local control over medical
marijuana facilities and land uses, including the authority to prohibit all medical marijuana
businesses and cultivation, newly-added Health & Safety Code section 11362.777, subdivision
(c)(4) provides that if a city does not have a land use regulation or ordinance regulating or
prohibiting marijuana cultivation in place, either expressly or otherwise under principles of
permissive zoning, or chooses not to administer a conditional permit program under that section,
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then, commencing March 1, 2016, the State Department of Food and Agriculture will become
the sole licensing authority for marijuana cultivation in that jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS, medical marijuana and cannabis businesses, dispensaries, commercial
operations, and delivery operations are not listed in the Zoning Code as either permitted or
conditionally permitted land uses and are, therefore, prohibited under the Town's permissive
zoning provisions, as set forth in Section 10-1.309, subdivision (a) of the Los Altos Hills
Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, "agriculture" is defined in the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code as "animal
husbandry, livestock farming, flower growing, crop and tree farming, and viticulture" and is a
permitted use throughout the Town, and the growing and cultivation of medical marijuana or
cannabis could be classified as "crop farming;"and
WHEREAS, many California communities have experienced adverse impacts and
negative secondary effects from medical marijuana establishments and cultivation sites,
including hazardous construction, unsafe electrical wiring, noxious odors and fumes affecting
neighboring properties and businesses, increased crime in and around such land uses, and the
diversion of medical marijuana to minors; and
WHEREAS, it is reasonable to conclude that medical marijuana dispensaries, marijuana
cultivation facilities, commercial medical marijuana or cannabis operations could cause similar
adverse impacts on the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Town of Los
Altos Hills; and
WHEREAS, it is in the interests of the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the
Town of Los Altos Hills to prohibit, in express terms, medical marijuana and cannabis
dispensaries, cultivation, and commercial operations; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the Town of Los Altos Hills conducted a
public hearing on January 6, 2016 and recommended prohibiting cannabis cultivation and
commercial operations but permitting the delivery of medical cannabis to qualified individuals;
and
WHEREAS, based on specific facts and circumstances to which local police officers can
and would attest, there is a threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the community if
medical marijuana is cultivated in the Town without proper regulations, and such unregulated
cultivation will result in harmful effects to the businesses, property owners, and residents of the
Town; and
WHEREAS, by adopting this ordinance, the Town will satisfy the requirement under the
new state legislation that the Town have land use regulations or ordinances regulating or
prohibiting the cultivation of medical marijuana,then commencing on March 1, 2016; and
WHEREAS, in light of the new state legislation requiring the Town have land use
regulations or ordinances regulating or prohibiting the cultivation of medical marijuana
commencing on March 1, 2016, the Town considered the adoption of this urgency ordinance in
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accordance with Government Code Section 36937 at a duly noticed public meeting on January
27, 2016, at which time it received and considered testimony from members of the public; and
WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution provides a city or town
may make and enforce within its limits all local police, sanitary and other ordinances and
regulations not in conflict with general laws; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills finds that this project is
exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to "general exemptions"
described in Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, since the ordinance would not have
any significant effects on the environment.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills does hereby
ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION I. FINDINGS.
Based on the entirety of the record as described above, the City Council for the Town of
Los Altos Hills hereby makes the following findings:
1. All of the facts and recitals above are true, corrected, incorporated herein and
made a park hereof such that there exists a current and immediate threat to the public health,
safety, and welfare requiring immediate implementation of an urgency ordinance to prohibit
medical marijuana cultivation and commercial operations within the Town of Los Altos Hills.
2. The urgency ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, and safety because the cultivation of medical marijuana in other cities and towns
has resulted in calls for service to the police department, including calls for robberies and thefts;
medical marijuana cultivation poses safety risks to surrounding neighbors, including but not
limited to, risks of violent confrontation in connection with attempts to steal marijuana and risk
of fire damage and loss from improper wiring within structures growing marijuana.
3. By adopting this ordinance, the Town will satisfy the requirement under the new
state legislation that the Town have land use regulations or ordinances regulating or prohibiting
the cultivation of medical marijuana, then commencing on March 1, 2016.
4. The Town of Los Altos Hills' Zoning Codes are hereby amended where and as
necessary to prohibit marijuana cultivation and commercial activity in the Town of Los Altos
Hills.
5. This project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
pursuant to "general exemptions" described in Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines,
since the ordinance would not have any significant effects on the environment.
6. The proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments are consistent with the adopted
General Plan because the prohibited uses are not compatible with the low density, semi-rural
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atmosphere of the community. None of the amendments will conflict with or impede
achievement of any of the objectives, goals, policies, programs, or general land use designations
established in the General Plan and are compatible with such General Plan objectives, policies,
general land uses, and programs.
SECTION II. AMENDMENTS.
The City Council hereby amends the following sections of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Cade to
read as follows (with additions indicated in double underline). Sections and subsections that are
not amended by this ordinance are not included below, and shall remain in full force and effect.
I. Section 10-1.202 Designated. is hereby amended:
Accessary use or accessory structure means a subordinate use or subordinate structure
customarily incident to and located on the same lot or parcel with the primary use.
Cannabis means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus Cannabis indica or
Cannabis ruderalis whether growing or not; the seeds thereof, the resin whether crude
or purified extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound manufacture salt
derivative mixture or preparation of the plant its seeds or resin "Cannabis" also means
the separated resin whether crude or purified obtained from marijuana "Cannabis" also
means marijuana as defined by Section 11018 of the Health and Safety Code as enacted
by Chapter 1407 of the Statutes of 1972 "Cannabis"does not include the mature stalks of
the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant any
other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature
stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom) fiber oil or cake or the sterilized seed of
the plant which is incapable of germination For the purpose of this chapter, "cannabis"
does not mean "industrial hemp" as defined by Section 81000 of the Food and
Agricultural Code or Section 11018 5 of the Health and Safety Code.
Cannabis cultivation means any activity involving the planting growing harvesting
drying, curing grading, or trimming of cannabis
Cannabis delivery operations means the commercial transfer of medical cannabis or
medical cannabis products from a dispensary, up to an amount determined by the Bureau
of Medical Marijuana Regulation to a primary caregjver or qualified patient as defined in
Section 11362.7 of the California Health and Safety Code or a testing laboratory
"Delivery" also includes the use by a dispensary of any technology platform owned and
controlled by the dispensary, or independently licensed under the state that enables
qualified patients or primary caregivers to arrange for or facilitate the commercial
transfer by a licensed dispensary of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products
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Commercial cannabis activity includes cultivation possession, manufacture
processing storing laboratory testing labeling distribution or sale of medical cannabis
or a medical cannabis product.
Dispensary means a facility where medical cannabis medical cannabis products or
devices for the use of medical cannabis or where medical cannabis products are offered
either individually or in any combination for retail sale including an establishment that
delivers pursuant to express authorization by local ordinance medical cannabis and
medical cannabis products as part of a retail sale.
2. Section 10-1.701 Primary uses permitted (R-A). is hereby amended:
Section 10-1.701 Primary uses permitted (R-A).
The following primary uses shall be permitted in the Residential-Agricultural District:
(a) Primary dwellings; and
(b) Agriculture, except those uses identified as prohibited under Section 10-1 706.
3. Section 10-1.801 Primary uses permitted (OSR). is hereby amended:
Section 10-1.801 Primary uses permitted (OSR).
The following primary uses shall be permitted in the Open Space Reserve District:
(a) Agricultural uses, including horticulture and grazing except those uses identified
as prohibited under Section 10-1.804.
(b) Forest preserves; and
(c) Other open space uses.
4. Section 10-1»706 Prohibited uses. is hereby added to read as follows:
Section 10-1.706 Prohibited use
The following uses are prohibited in the Residential-Agricultural District (R-A):
(a) Medical marijuana or cannabis cultivation,including cultivation for personal use-
(b) All commercial medical marijuana or cannabis activities,
(cl Medical marijuana or cannabis dispensaries;
Cd) Processing of medical marijuana or cannabis:
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5. Section 10-1.804 Prohibited uses. is hereby added to read as follows:
Section 10-1,804 Prohibited uses.
The following uses are prohibited in the Open Space Reserve District (OSRI:
(a) Medical marijuana or cannabis cultivation including cultivation for personal use-
.
(b) All commercial medical marijuana or cannabis activities:
(c) Medical marijuana or cannabis dispensaries:
(d) Processing of medical marijuana or cannabis:
SECTION III. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance
is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this 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 of the Town of Los Altos Hills 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 IV. EFFECTIVE DATE AND PUBLICATION.
This ordinance is an urgency ordinance enacted under California Government Code
36934 and 36937(b). This urgency ordinance is effective upon adoption by a four-fifths (4/5)
vote of the City Council. This urgency ordinance shall remain in full force and effect until it is
repealed by a new regulatory scheme by the City Council.
Within fifteen days after the passage of this ordinance the City Clerk shall cause this
ordinance or a summary thereof to be published once, with the names of those City
Councilmembers voting for or against it in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Los
Altos Hills, as required by law.
INTRODUCED: January 27, 2016
PASSED: January 27, 2016
AYES: Harpootlian, Waldeck, Corrigan, Radford, Spreen
NOES: None
ABSTENTIONS: None
ABSENT: None
Ordinance 561 Page 6
BY
:
ATTEST:
eity Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Cliy�Attom(o v
2595782.1
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