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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC RES 4335 RESOLUTION NO. 4335 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPT ORDINANCE NO. 1478, AMENDING TUSTIN CITY CODE SECTIONS 3141, 3152, 9270 AND 9297 TO UPDATE THE CITY'S BUSINESS AND LAND USE REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO MARIJUANA ACTIVITY. The Planning Commission hereby does resolve as follows: I. The Planning Commission finds and determines as follows: A. That in 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, entitled The Compassionate Use Act ("CUA"), codified in Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 et seq. The CUA, which was intended to enable seriously ill persons to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes, exempted qualified patients and their primary caregivers from criminal prosecution under state law for the cultivation, distribution, possession, and use of marijuana under specified circumstances. B. That in 2003, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 420, known as the Medical Marijuana Program Act ("MMPA"), codified in Health and Safety Code Section 11362.7 et seq. The MMPA clarified the scope and application of the CUA, better defined the regulatory framework for the cultivation, distribution, possession and use of medical marijuana, and recognized the right of cities to regulate the operation, location, and establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries. C. That on, February 6, 2006, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1309, an interim urgency ordinance, and found that medical marijuana dispensaries are not permitted uses in any zoning district in the City of Tustin ("City") and expressly prohibited the establishment of any medical marijuana dispensary in the City for forty-five (45) days pending the commencement of appropriate studies and consideration of alternative land use approaches for addressing the health, safety, and welfare issues associated with the regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries in the City. On March 20, 2006, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1310, extending Ordinance No. 1309 for an additional ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days. D. That on December 4, 2006, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1322. The purpose and intent of Ordinance No. 1322 was to prohibit all illegal uses, including medical marijuana dispensaries, to promote the health, Resolution No. 4335 Page 2 safety, morals and general welfare of the residents and businesses within the City. E. That on May 6, 2013, the California Supreme Court in the case of City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient's Health and Wellness Center, Inc., 2013 WL 1859214 (Cal.), affirmed the right of municipalities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries, holding that neither the CUA nor the MMPA preempted a zoning ordinance declaring medical marijuana dispensaries a prohibited use of land. F. That on October 9, 2015, Governor Brown signed the "Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act" ("MMRSA"), which .is comprised of the State legislative bills known as Assembly Bill (AB) 243, AB 266, and Senate Bill (SB) 643, into law. G. That the MMRSA, effective as of January 1, 2016, contains provisions that govern the cultivating, processing, transporting, testing, and distributing of medical cannabis to qualified patients. The MMRSA also contains new statutory provisions that: 1. Expressly provide that the MMRSA does not supersede or limit focal authority for local law enforcement activity, enforcement of local ordinances, or enforcement of local permit or licensing requirements regarding marijuana (Business & Professions Code §19315(a)); 2. Expressly provide that the MMRSA does not limit the authority or remedies of a local government under any provision of law regarding marijuana, including but not limited to a local government's right to make and enforce within its limits all police regulations not in conflict with general laws (Business & Professions Code § 19316(c)); and 3. Require a local government that wishes to prevent marijuana delivery activity, as defined in Business & Professions Code Section 19300.5(m) of the MMRSA, from operating within the local government's boundaries to enact an ordinance affirmatively banning such delivery activity (Business & Professions Code § 19340(a)). H. That on January 19, 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1466. The purpose of Ordinance 1466 was to prohibit marijuana cultivation, processing, delivery, and distribution in all zoning districts within the City. I. That on November 8, 2016, California voters approved Proposition 64 — the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (the "Adult Use of Marijuana Act") legalizing certain activities by adults aged 21 or older pertaining to recreational marijuana including: Resolution No.4336 Page 3 1. Possessing, processing, transporting, purchasing, obtaining, or giving away, to adults aged 21 or older without compensation whatsoever, of recreational marijuana in certain specified amounts (Health & Safety Code §§ 11362.1(a)(1) and (a)(2)); 2. Possessing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, or processing of not more than six (6) living marijuana plants and possessing the marijuana produced by those plants, provided that such activity is conducted within a person's private residence (i.e. house, apartment unit, mobile home or other similar dwelling), or upon the grounds of that private residence (e.g. in an outdoor garden area), are in a locked space, and are not visible by normal unaided vision from a public place (Health & Safety Code §§ 11362.1(a)(3) and 11362.2(a)(2), (a)(3), and (b)(5)); and, 3. Smoking or ingesting of marijuana and marijuana products (Health & Safety Code § 11362.1(a)(4)). J. That, pursuant to the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, local entities may not completely prohibit any of the foregoing activities, except that local entities may prohibit possessing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, and processing of marijuana outdoors upon the grounds of a private residence ((Health & Safety Code § 11362.2(b)(3)). K. That pursuant to the provisions of the Tustin City Code ("TCC"), planting, cultivating, processing, harvesting, or drying of marijuana (whether medical or recreational) are not listed as a "permitted use" in any zoning district in the City; and that such uses and activities are expressly prohibited in all zoning districts within the City. L. That Code Amendment (CA) 2017-001 is consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the General Plan as a whole and is not inconsistent with any element thereof. Further, CA 2017-001 is necessary in order to ensure that the TCC is not inconsistent with state law. Specifically, this Ordinance is necessary in order to amend the TCC so that it does not prohibit activity and/or uses that are expressly permitted pursuant to the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, M. That CA 2017-001 is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, Sections 15060 (c) (2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. Resolution No 4335 Page 4 N, That on February 28, 2017,, a public hearing was duly noticed, called, and held on Code Amendment 2017-001 by the Planning Commission. 11 The Planning Commission hereby recommends that the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 1478, amending TCC Sections 3141, 3152, 91270 and 92�97 to update the City's business and land, use reg�ulations, pertaining to marijuana activity, which is attached hereto. PASSED AND ADOPTED, at a regular meeting of the Planning Commission of the City of Tustin on this 28 1h day of February, 2017, AUSTI LU!MbARD Chairperson w. ELIZABETH A. BINSAC,K Planning Commission Secretary STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ss. CITY OF TUSTIN I, Elizabeth A. Binsack, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am the Planning Commission Secretary of the City of Tustin, California; that Resolution No, 4335 was passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Tustin Planning Commission, held on the 281h day of February, 2017 PLAWNG COMMISSIONER AYES- KOZAK, LUMBARD, MASON, SMYM, THOMPSON (5) PLANNING COMMISSIONER NOES: PLAWNG COMMISSIONER ABSTAINED:, PLANNING COMMISSIONER ABSENT: ELIZABETH A, BINSACK Planning Commission Secretary