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Home My WebLink About8.2 PCSR Amendments to ZO Ch 8.08 & 8.12 C�� i � �� STAFF REPORT 19 �� PLANNING COMMISSION �� DATE: December 8, 2015 TO: Planning Commission SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARING - PLPA-2015-00056 Amendments to Dublin Zoning Ordinance Chapter 8.08 (Definitions) and Chapter 8.12 (Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses of Land) Report prepared by Martha Aja, Associate Planner EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Several new state laws regarding medical marijuana activities will go into effect in 2016, � including Assembly Bill 243 ("AB 243''), which establishes a dual licensing structure for medical marijuana cultivation. A person wishing to cultivate medical marijuana must receive a license from the California Department of Food & Agriculture ("DFA"), as well as a license, permit or entiflement from the local jurisdiction where the cultivation is to take pkace. However, AB 266 provides that if a local jurisdiction does not have: a land use regulation or ordinance prohibiting or regulating medical marijuana cultivation in effect before March 1, 2016, then DFA will be the sole licensing authority for the medical marijuana cultivation in that jurisdiction. The primary purpose of the proposed ordinance is to ensure the City retains local control over medical marijuana cultivation by restricting it prior to the March 1, 2016 deadline. In addition, the proposed ordinance adds the City's existing prohibition on medical marijuana dispensaries to the Zoning Ordinance to avoid confusion. The Planning Commission is being asked to review the proposed amendments#o Chapter 8, and to make a recommendation to the City Council. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends #hat the Planning Commission: 1) Receive Staff presentation; 2) Open #he public hearing; 3) Take testimony from the public; 4) Close the public hearing and deliberate; and 5) Adopt a Resolution recommending that the City Council adopt an Ordinance amending � Chapfer 8.08 (Definitions) and Chapter 8.12 (Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses of Land) of the Dublin Municipal Code to prohibit medicaf marijuana cultivation and medical marijuana dispensaries in zoning districts within the City. _ � - ,�_ Submitted y R ' ed By Associate Planner Assistant Community Development Director COPIES TO: File � ITEM NO.:�•�. _ Page 1 of 4 G:IPA120151PLPA-2015-00056 Medical Marijuana112.8.15 PC HearinglPCSR.12.8.15.docx DESCRIPTION: California voters enacted the Compassionate Use Act in 1996 to permit the possession and cultivation of marijuana for limited medical treatment purposes. In 2004, the Legislature adopted the Medical Marijuana Program Act to provide greater access to medical marijuana for qualified patients and caregivers by allowing collective, cooperative cultivation projects known as "dispensaries". Neither the Compassionate Use Act nor the Medical Marijuana Program Act prevents a City from enacting nuisance and land use regulations regarding medical marijuana use or dispensaries. A City is constitutionally authorized to make and enforce within its limits all local police, sanitary, and other ordinances. (Cal. Const. Art. XI, § 7.) California courts have affirmed a City's ability to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries and medical marijuana cultivation as part of the traditional land use authority. (City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center, et al. (2013) 56 Cal.4�' 729; Maral et al. v. City of Live Oak, 221 Cal.App.4tn 975.) The City of Dublin has previously exercised this authority and adopted a prohibition on the operation of inedical marijuana dispensaries anywhere in the City. The City also regulates agricultural uses, although the Municipal Code does not explicitly prohibit medical marijuana cultivation. Several bills regulating medical marijuana were passed by the State Legislature this past session, including Assembly Bill 243, Assembly Bill 266 and Senate Bill 643. These bills do not � ;; eliminate cities' authority to regulate medical marijuana within their jurisdictions, and the City's current ban on medical marijuana dispensaries is unaffected by the passage of these bills. However, Staff is recommending the adoption of the proposed Ordinance to preserve the City's authority to regulate medical marijuana cultivation, in response to one of the bills. Assembly Bill 243 ("AB 243") adds Health and Safety Code section 11362.777, which establishes a dual licensing structure for the cultivation of inedical marijuana. Under section 11362.777, a person wishing to cultivate marijuana must receive a license from the California DFA, as weli as a license, permit or entitlement from #he local jurisdiction where the cultivation is to take place. Section 11362.777 provides that if a local jurisdiction does not have a land use regulation or ordinance prohibiting or regulating cultivation of inedical marijuana in effect before March 1, 2016, the DFA wifl be the sole licensing authority for the cultivation of inedical marijuana in that jurisdiciion. Accordingly, if the Cify does not have a prohibition or any regulations in effect before March 1, 2016, the City may lose its ability to eontrol medical marijuana cultivation within the City. If the City has regulations or a prohibition in effeet before March 1, the City has the power to later modify the prohibition and/or regulations. In light of the recently adopted State legislation, Staff is proposing amendments to the Zoning Ordinance Chapter 8.08 (Definitions) and Chapter 8.12 (Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses of Land). The proposed amendments will prohibit medical marijuana cultivation in every zoning district within the �ity. The proposed amendments are intended to preserve the City's authority to regulate medical marijuana cultivation within its jurisdiction. In order to have an ordinance in effect before March 1, 2016, the ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance must be adopted at the City Council's January 19, 2016 meeting, after being introduced at the City CounciPs December 15 meeting (the Council's first meeting in January has been canceled). If the City has regulations or a prohibition in effect before March 1, 2016, the City will retain the flexibility to maintain, narrow, or lift the prohibition on cultivation at some , point in the future. The proposed amendments would also add the City's existing prohibition on � � medical marijuana dispensaries to the Zoning Ordinance, and amend Chapter 5.58 (Medical 2of4 Marijuana Dispensaries) to ensure consistency between the Zoning Ordinance and the City's existing prohibition on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and prohibit cultivation and deliveries. The proposed amendments to Chapter 5.58 are attached to this Staff Report for your reference (Attachment 1). Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance are required to be reviewed by the Planning Commission at a public hearing where a recommendation is made to the City Council. Therefore, the Planning Commission is currently being requested to review the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendments and to make a recommendation to the City CounciL The proposed amendments to Chapter 5.58 will be reviewed by the City Council at its December 15, 2015 meeting together with the proposed amendments to Chapter 8. ANALYSIS: The proposed amendments to Chapter 8.08 (Definitions) and 8.12 (Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses of Land) of the Zoning Ordinance prohibit the cultivation of inedical marijuana in all zoning districts in the City. The ordinance is necessary to ensure that the City retains authority regarding the medical marijuana cultivation within the City, and to prevent the DFA from becoming the sole licensing authority for medical marijuana cultivation within the City. The proposed amentlments to Chapter 5.58 (Medical Marijuana Dispensaries) are necessary to ; ensure consis#ency befinreen the Zoning Ordinance and the City's existing prohibition on medicat marijuana dispensaries, and will add th�t existing prohibition to the City'sZoning Ordinance. The foHowing is a description of the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendments. Chapter 8.08 (Definitions) The following new defini#ions will be listed in Chapter 8.08 and there will be a cross reference to Chapter 5.58 Medical Marijuana Dispensary. See Section 5.58.010(C). Medical Marijuana Cultivation. See Section 5.58.010(D). Chapter 8.12 jZoning Districts and Permitted Uses of Land) Section 8.12.050 (Permitted and Conditionally Permitted Land Uses) of Title 8 of the Dublin Municipal Code is hereby amended to add Medical Marijuana Cultivation as an Agricultural Use Type to read as follows AGRICULTURAL A R-1 R-2 R-M C-O C-N C-1 C-2 M-P M-1 M-2 USE TYPE Medical Marijuana - - - - - - - - - - - Cultivation 3 of 4 i Section 8.12.050 (Permitted and Conditionally Permitted Land Uses) of Title 8 of the Dublin Municipal Code is hereby amended to add Medical Marijuana Dispensary as a Commercial Use Type to read as follows: COMMERCIAL A R-1 R-2 R-M C-O C-N C-1 C-2 M-P M-1 M-2 USE TYPE Medical Marijuana - - - - - - - - - - - Dis ensa f NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: F � A Public Notice was published in the Valley Times and posted at several locations throughout € the City and emailed to all persons who have expressed an interest in being notified of meetings. The Staff Report was also made available on the City's webpage. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: { The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), together with State Guidelines and City Environmental Regulations require that certain projects be reviewed for environmental impacts and fhat environmental documents be prepared. Pursuant to the CEQA, Staff is recommending that the proposed Ordinance be found exempt from CEQA per CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). Section 15061(b)(3) states that CEQA applies only to those projects that have the potential to caus� a significant effect on the environment. The adoption of the proposed amendments of the Municipal Code does not, in itself, allow#he construction of any building or structure, or authorize any activity, but rather prohibits the cultivation of marijuana within the City. This Ordinance of itself, therefoce, has no potential for resulting in significant physical � change in the environment, directly or ultimately. � ATTACHMENTS: 1. Draft amendments to Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.58 (Medical Marijuana Dispensaries), Chapter 8.08 (Definitions) and Chapter 8,12 (Zoning Districts and � _ � Permitted Uses of Land) of the Dublin Municipal Code ` 2. Resolution recommending tha# the City Council adopt � an ordinance amending Chap#er 8.08 (Definitions) and Chapter 8.12 (Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses of _ Land) of the Dublin Municipal Code to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries and cultiva#ion in all zoning _ districts within the City of Dublin. � 4: i I' � � 4 of 4 t €