Monterey Council to revise anti-medical marijuana ordinance.

In wake of Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping new regulations on medical marijuana, Monterey City Council must scramble to keep the city’s prohibition on distribution and cultivation relevant. If Monterey’s current ordinance isn’t updated by March 1, the city will lose authority over the delivery of medical marijuana, thereby making it legal within city limits.

At a Nov. 10 City Council retreat, City Attorney Christine Davi told the council they must change the current ordinance to either expressly prohibit or expressly allow distribution and cultivation.

The prohibition on dispensaries in city limits is not affected, says Davi.

The twist is that usurping local control was an unintended consequence of the state’s landmark legislation, Davi adds. While the Legislature is set to change the wording in early 2016, the city shouldn’t assume it will.

The city attorney’s office will not make specific recommendations, but will outline the legal framework for either legalization or the continued criminalization. Police Chief Dave Hober and the city Planning Department will likely make specific policy recommendations. At this point, Hober is still researching and considering ramifications of the issue, says Monterey Police Department spokesperson Lt. Jeff Jackson.

City staff will report to City Council Council Dec. 1. Mayor Clyde Roberson didn’t respond to requests for comment, but during the retreat on Nov. 10, he indicated Hober’s position on the issue would carry significant weight.

In April, Del Rey Oaks became the first city in Monterey County to allow a medical cannabis dispensary to open.

“The landscape is evolving. I look at Del Rey Oaks and I don’t see the city having a problem [with medical marijuana],” says city council member Timothy Barrett. “We have a model that works well, but for me it’s really about what the community wants.”

Monterey’s current marijuana code is written to prohibit recreational use and the sale, distribution and cultivation for medical uses, as the city anticipated the possibility of legalization in crafting the ordinance in 2011. Two laws in the state’s three-bill medical-marijuana package are causing the city to hustle: AB266 and AB243. The former would allow distribution and the latter would add complications on cultivation.

Under AB266, the state creates a dual licensing program by both state and municipal agencies. Delivery services would be able to get a state license and operate in city limits unless it is expressly prohibited. Ironically, a simple search on weedmaps.com shows multiple delivery services already operate in Monterey. The Monterey Police Department had no comment on the current, technically illegal deliveries.

AB243 would strip the city of its regulatory authority if it were to ever allow cultivation in the future. Coincidentally, if the city were to allow cultivation it would not be able to regulate on its own because the city lacks the budget and technology to comply with AB243’s protocol requiring genetic identification of cannabis strains, Davi says.

The city’s ban on cultivation is through permissive zoning: If something is not expressly permitted it is prohibited. But is it recommended for cities with permissive zoning to adopt a resolution that directly prohibits it, Davi says, to hedge against possible litigation.