Citrus Heights City Council Adopts Urgency Ordinance on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
The Citrus Heights City Council last week voted unanimously to approve an urgency ordinance that details zoning and licensing restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries, the Sacramento Bee reports. The ordinance, which takes effect immediately and will remain in effect until officials enact a permanent ordinance, requires medical marijuana dispensaries to be not-for-profit operations, to obtain a business license and to maintain a medical cannabis dispensary permit, which must be renewed annually by the city manager. The ordinance prohibits consumption of marijuana on the dispensary's premises and limits the amount of processed marijuana and the number of marijuana plants allowed in each shop. The ordinance also specifies that only two dispensaries will be permitted in Citrus Heights and that neither can be located in residential areas or within 1,000 feet of another dispensary, school, public library or park. However, the council agreed to exempt from the requirement two individuals who have applied for a license to open a dispensary; the individuals have signed a lease for a shop located 900 feet from a middle school. Council members decided that because the urgency ordinance had not been written at the time the operators signed the lease, they would allow the shop to open at the location (Richie, Sacramento Bee, 4/18).
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