Proposed medical marijuana restrictions head to La Cañada City Council

In an effort to maintain local control as state authorization of medical marijuana use widens, the La Cañada Flintridge Planning Commission recommended Monday the City Council continue to prohibit marijuana dispensaries, while banning cultivation and delivery inside city limits.

In 2011, the City Council voted unanimously on an ordinance forbidding the operation of marijuana dispensaries, despite a statewide sanction of medical marijuana collective and cooperative organizations.

But a trio of bills signed in September by Gov. Jerry Brown — which create a state licensing system for the cultivation, processing and transportation of marijuana, among other aspects — has municipalities drafting new legislation to invoke local regulatory authority before a March 2016 deadline.

Deputy City Atty, Adrian Guerra explained to the commission that California’s new Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act would allow potential marijuana growers to apply for and receive licenses directly from the state, unless cities drafted their own rules by the deadline.

“A provision in the state law that says if a local agency does not have regulations pertaining to cultivation in effect by March 1, 2016, then a licensee can basically bypass the city’s jurisdiction and approval rights and go straight to the state and get approved,” Guerra told commissioners.

The proposed ordinance, he said, would ban not only the cultivation of marijuana, but also the establishment of mobile delivery services that would allow dispensaries to bring products into La Cañada.

Planning Commission Vice Chair Tom Smith asked how mobile dispensaries worked and how they differed from storefront locations.

Guerra explained the city’s previous regulations pertained only to brick and mortar marijuana dispensaries and did not address the act of those businesses delivering products to customers.

“What this ordinance does is take it to the next step,” he added. “By prohibiting the mobile marijuana dispensaries, we’re prohibiting that aspect of it, the delivery to the end user.”

Ultimately, the Planning Commission voted 3-0 (Commission Chair Jeffrey McConnell and member Arun Jain were absent) to pass a resolution recommending the ordinance be adopted by the City Council. Guerra said the matter would likely appear for a first reading at the council’s Dec. 15 meeting, in advance of potential adoption in mid-January.

Commissioner Mike Hazen thanked city staff for thinking in a proactive way.

“I think your conservative approach was the right thing to do — you just don’t want the state to be in charge of anything in your city,” Hazen quipped.

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine