Proposed medical marijuana ordinance back before Costa Mesa council
The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday will review a draft ordinance that could permit medical marijuana storefronts to return to the city.
The law is a revised version of an earlier one spearheaded in August by Councilman Gary Monahan, which was widely praised by medical cannabis activists but found no backing from the rest of the council.
City attorneys have suggested various revisions to Monahan’s law, including requiring an additional permit that must be renewed annually, said Deputy City Attorney Chris Neumeyer on Friday.
The draft also proposes an initial prohibition of marijuana deliveries, Neumeyer added.
Like a law passed last year that tries to recoup the public safety costs of Costa Mesa motels that attract significant amounts of police and fire department attention, the marijuana law may also contain a similar “excessive use” of city resources provision.
The law will be up for council scrutiny and changes during Tuesday’s study session, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in the council chambers, 77 Fair Drive. It was unclear Friday when it will return to the council for a vote.
Costa Mesa has banned medical marijuana dispensaries since 2005, though many operated in the open until federal authorities shut them down in 2012.
Last year, thousands of Costa Mesa voters signed petitions to get medical marijuana proposals on a citywide ballot. Both petitions received enough signatures and were certified by the county registrar, thus qualifying for a special election, though conflicts between election and tax laws all but forced city officials to postpone the election longer than expected.
Because the marijuana petitions proposed a new tax, under the state constitution as amended by Proposition 218 in 1996, they could not be approved during a special election, only a general election during which time a city’s governing body is decided.
In Costa Mesa’s case, that meant November 2016. A special election would have otherwise occurred some time this month.
