City Council Minutes 2009 10 13 SP

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City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 13, 2009 Page 3 of 7 City Attorney Light clarified the ordinance imposes a temporary moratorium on the processing or approval of medical marijuana dispensaries. Any action taken on the ordinance on first mading is not final action. If approved on first reading, final action will be on the ordinances second reading, at the October 20, 2009 City Council meeting. ThE! ordinance is not an outright ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, nor is it an outright approval of any medical marijuana dispensaries. The effect of the ordinance is to put on hold city processes on the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, until the City can study the issues, review its regulatory options and enact appropriate regulations. The ordinance places a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries for a period of six months; from October 202009, to April 20, 2010. Additionally the moritorum could be released earlier or extended. The moratorium does not relate to the criminal prosecution immunity protection provided in the state constitution for medical use of medical marijuana for either patients or caregivers. The moratorium is related to the establishment of dispensaries as a business and a land use within the City of L.ouisville. The moratorium does not involve the criminal aspects from the constitutional amendment, which was passed in 2000. The Colorado Court system has ruled a moratorium is an appropriate method to maintain the status quo while an issue is studied, as long as the moratorium is reasonable and acted upon in good faith. City Attorney Light explained several municipalities are looking at regulatory options. Some options include considering the use as a permitted or nonpermitted use; zoning the use in some zone districts and adopting additional criteria such as distance requirements and operation requirements. Some municipalities are zoning and licensing medical marijuana dispensaries as a business operation. Those types of licenses involve hours of operations, signage, lighting, age limitation, security and whether there can be consumption on the premises. Some municipalities are taking no action. He noted the sale of marijuana currently remains illegal under federal law. The main thrust of the moratorium is to maintain the status quo while evalulating the options. City Attorney Light noted there may be case law on this issue and also legislation at the next general assembly. There has been discussion at the Colorado Municipal League that the le~lislators will look at this issue. He stated the Colorado Attorney General may also be looking at this issue and provide guidance. Constitution Amendment :20 is a set of constitutional immunities from prosecution at the state level for medical use of marijuana. Those protections are for patients and caregivers. The amendment does not use the word dispensaries nor does it discuss the sale of marijuana. The constitutional amendment allows patients and caregivers to possess and use a presumptive amounts of marijuana for treating symptons of debilitating mediical conditions. The question is whether the