The Sixth District Court of Appeal has held that a medical marijuana collective is not a “medical office” as defined in San Jose’s Municipal Code. J. Arthur Properties, II, LLC v. City of San Jose, 21 Cal. App. 5th 480 (2018)
Plaintiffs opened a medical marijuana collective in 2010 at a site zoned Commercial
When a referendum petition is presented against an ordinance and the board of supervisors decides to “entirely repeal the ordinance” rather than present it to the voters, the board must revoke the challenged ordinance in its entirety and may not take additional action that has the practical effect of implementing the essential feature of the ordinance. County of Kern v. TCEF, 246 Cal.App.4th 301 (2016)
In 2009, the Board of Supervisors of Kern County enacted a zoning ordinance that effectively allowed medical marijuana dispensaries in commercial zoning districts. In 2011, the Board enacted a new zoning ordinance, the Dispensary Ban Ordinance, which banned all medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the county’s jurisdiction. Opponents circulated a referendum petition, and obtained the requisite signatures. The Board responded by repealing the entire chapter of the zoning ordinance that included both the Dispensary Ban Ordinance and the 2009 ordinance allowing dispensaries in commercial zoning districts. The result was that dispensaries were not allowed in any zoning district anywhere in the county.
Elections Code section 9145 requires that when a county board of supervisors is presented with a qualified referendum petition, it must either “entirely repeal the ordinance against which a [referendum] petition is filed” or submit the ordinance to a vote. The court of appeal agreed with Kern County that this language did not necessarily require the county to return all circumstances to the status quo that existed before the Dispensary Ban Ordinance was enacted, and that the county had discretion to take other actions besides repealing the referended ordinance. However, this discretion is limited by the overriding principle that these actions may not have the practical effect of implementing the core element of the challenged ordinance.
Continue Reading County Board May Not Take Actions That Implement Essential Feature of a Referended Ordinance
A California Court of Appeal has held that a city ordinance prohibiting mobile medical marijuana dispensaries within city boundaries did not constitute a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act. Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of Upland, 245 Cal.App.4th 1265 (2016).
In 2007, the City of Upland adopted a zoning ordinance