Community meeting will focus on future of recreational marijuana in Glendale

Glendale residents can soon weigh in on the future of marijuana in the Jewel City, following voters’ approval statewide of the adult, recreational use of pot last month. A community meeting on the recent passage of Propositon 64 — and what it could mean for Glendale — is slated for next month.

In different parts of the city, approval of legalizing marijuana ranged from 53% to 57%, said Tom Lorenz, director of communications and community relations for the city during a meeting of the Strategic Partners Network last week.

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FOR THE RECORD

12/8, 10:21 a.m.: A previous version of this story stated approval of legalizing marijuana ranged from 43% to 54% in Glendale. The range was 53% to 57%.

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The network was formed as part of the YMCA of the Foothills to continue the work of the CV Alliance, a drug and alcohol prevention coalition that dissolved earlier this year after it did not receive key federal grant funding.

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The passage of the state proposition regarding marijuana allows adults who are at least 21 years old to possess an ounce of pot, grow up to six plants in their home or backyard and smoke it on private property.

For now, however, residents should not expect any sudden changes involving how marijuana is used in Glendale because existing city ordinances restrict the delivery, storage or retail sale of marijuana, and extensive growing operations are prohibited, he said.

During the meeting last week, Lorenz encouraged local residents to attend the upcoming community meeting to offer input to city officials.

“What are we going to allow in the city of Glendale? Should we franchise it, and say, based on [our city’s] population of 200,000, we probably shouldn’t have more than two or three stores? We probably shouldn’t have maybe one or two growers?” Lorenz said. “We’re not going to turn [the city] into, no offense, a Venice Beach boardwalk where every storefront you go by, there’s somebody trying to get you to go in there and buy marijuana.”

City officials will gauge residents’ views on the issue as they move forward, he added.

“The fact is, marijuana’s here, so let’s see where we go from here,” Lorenz said.

The community meeting about Proposition 64 will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 11 at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 N. Verdugo Road.

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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan