5 more Laguna Beach locations identified as possible sites for marijuana dispensaries
The city of Laguna Beach has identified five additional locations that could house medical marijuana dispensaries if voters pass a ballot measure in next month’s election.
The five sites are in South Laguna along South Coast Highway between Eagle Rock Way and Fourth Avenue, according to a news release.
Laguna mailed a letter to residents Sept. 28 about Measure KK, a resident-sponsored initiative that would repeal the city’s ban on dispensaries.
The letter featured a map with possible dispensary locations throughout the city: Laguna Canyon, downtown, along South Coast Highway and Glenneyre Street between Legion and Diamond streets, and the Aliso Creek Shopping Center across from the Montage resort.
“The map omitted other parts of Laguna Beach, such as the southern portion of the city south of the Montage, and Irvine Cove, because it was believed at that time these areas could not serve as possible locations for medical marijuana dispensaries,” the release stated.
The city received questions from South Laguna residents about zones where dispensaries could be allowed under the initiative, prompting the city to review zoning maps, City Manager John Pietig told the Daily Pilot on Tuesday.
“There are several variables to consider when checking possible sites against the language in KK, and some parcels were missed in South Laguna,” Pietig wrote in an email.
According to the initiative, dispensaries must be in either commercial or industrial zones and would not be allowed on property abutting or across the street from a residential lot, within 1,000 feet of a public or private K-12 school or another medical marijuana dispensary.
Initiative backers say providing a local source of medical cannabis would benefit residents because they would not have to drive outside city limits to obtain the drug.
Opponents say dispensaries would threaten the safety of children and neighborhoods and draw more traffic to Laguna as the only south Orange County city to harbor such businesses.
In August, the City Council adopted a resolution opposing the measure.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
