HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-13 Ordinance 5419170503 th TS/ORD Amending 9.17
Ordinance No. 5419
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Repealing Chapter 9.17
(Personal Cultivation of Marijuana) of Title 9 (Public Peace, Morals and Safety) of
the Palo Alto Municipal Code; Repealing Ordinance No. 4422; and Amending
Chapters 18.04 (Definitions) and 18.42 (Standards for Special Uses) of Title 18
(Zoning) to Prohibit Medical Cannabis Dispensaries and Prohibit Commercial
Cannabis Activities, Except for Deliveries.
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1: The Council of the City of Palo Alto finds and declares as follows:
A. On June 9, 1997, the Palo Alto City Council adopted uncodified urgency
Ordinance No. 4422 declaring the establishment and operation of medical cannabis
dispensaries to be a prohibited use under the City’s zoning ordinance.
B. On October 24, 2016, the Palo Alto City Council adopted Ordinance No. 5399,
prohibiting the outdoor cultivation of cannabis. That ordinance had a sunset date of one year
from the date the ordinance took effect.
C. On November 8, 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, known as the
Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), which legalized the use, sale, and consumption of
recreational cannabis by persons 21 years of age and older.
D. In June 2017, the California Legislature passed SB 94, which consolidated the
state regulation of medical and recreational cannabis into the Medicinal and Adult Use
Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), taking the place of the Medical Cannabis
Regulation and Safety Act and the AUMA.
E. The MAUCRSA provides base standards for personal cultivation of cannabis and
allows local jurisdictions to legislate additional standards. (See Health and Safety Code section
11362.2).
F. The MAUCRSA permits commercial cannabis activities subject to state licensure,
but preserves local governments’ authority to regulate or ban commercial cannabis activities.
(See, e.g., Business and Professions Code section 26200).
G. Medical cannabis dispensaries and commercial cannabis activities are not listed
in the City’s zoning code as permitted or conditionally-permitted land uses, making them
prohibited under the principles of permissive zoning provisions. (See, e.g., City of Corona v.
Naulls (2008) 166 Cal.App.4th 418). Nevertheless, the state may not necessarily recognize the
application of permissive zoning principles as to cannabis-related uses.
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170503 th TS/ORD Amending 9.17
H. In order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the Palo Alto City
Council desires to replace the existing uncodified prohibition of medical cannabis dispensaries
in Ordinance No. 4422 with new Code section 18.42.150 to prohibit medical cannabis
dispensaries and prohibit commercial cannabis activities, with the exception of deliveries. The
Palo Alto City Council also desires to repeal Ordinance No. 5399, codified at Chapter 9.17 of
Title 9 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, in recognition of new state law regulating cultivation for
personal use.
SECTION 2. Chapter 9.17 of Title 9 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. Ordinance No. 4422 of the City of Palo Alto is hereby repealed.
SECTION 4. Chapter 18.04 of Title 18 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby
amended to add new subsection 18.04.030(a)(94.5) to read as follows:
(94.5) “Cannabis” means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus, Cannabis indica, or
Cannabis ruderalis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin, whether crude or
purified, extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt,
derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin. “Cannabis” also means the
separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from cannabis. “Cannabis” does not
include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the
seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation
of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized
seed of the plant which is incapable of germination. For the purpose of this Title, “cannabis”
does not mean “industrial hemp” as defined by Section 11018.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(A) “Commercial cannabis activity” includes the cultivation, possession, manufacture,
distribution, processing, storing, laboratory testing, packaging, labeling, transportation, delivery
or sale of cannabis and cannabis products as provided for in Division 10 of the California
Business and Professions Code. “Commercial cannabis activity” does not include personal uses
allowed by Health and Safety Code sections 11362.1 and 11362.2 or personal medicinal uses
allowed by sections 11362.765 and 11362.77, as amended from time to time.
(B) “Cultivation” means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying,
curing, grading, or trimming of cannabis.
(C) “Medical cannabis dispensary” is a facility where cannabis is made available for medicinal
purposes in accordance with any provision of state law that authorizes the use of cannabis for
medicinal purposes.
SECTION 5. Chapter 18.42 of Title 18 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby
amended to add new section 18.42.150 to read as follows:
18.42.150 Cannabis Cultivation and Commercial Activities
(a) Prohibition of commercial activities.
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Commercial cannabis activity is not permitted.
(b) Exception for qualified delivery services.
Notwithstanding the prohibition in section 18.42.150(a), delivery of cannabis from a business
located outside the City of Palo Alto is permitted subject to the conditions of California Business
and Professions Code section 26090, as amended from time to time. This section does not
permit any temporary, persistent, or fixed physical presence used for commercial cannabis
activities besides delivery vehicles in the active state of making a delivery to a specific person
and location
(c) Prohibition of medical cannabis dispensaries.
Medical cannabis dispensaries are not permitted.
(d) Regulations.
The City Manager is authorized to approve and enforce regulations consistent with this
section.
(e) Enforcement.
The City may enforce this section and its regulations in any manner permitted by law and is
entitled to recover all costs, including attorneys fees, related to enforcement. The violation of
this section is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and shall, at the discretion of the city,
create a cause of action for injunctive relief.
SECTION 6. Severability. If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this
ordinance, or the application to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, such
invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this ordinance which can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this ordinance are
hereby declared to be severable.
SECTION 7. CEQA. The City Council finds and determines that this Ordinance is not a
“project” within the meaning of section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) Guidelines because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the
environment, either directly or ultimately. In the event that this Ordinance is found to be a
project under CEQA, it is subject to the CEQA exemption contained in CEQA Guidelines section
15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty to have no possibility of a significant effect on
the environment.
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SECTION 8. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective on the thirty-first date after
the date of its adoption.
INTRODUCED: October 30, 2017
PASSED: November 13, 2017
AYES: DUBOIS, FILSETH, FINE, HOLMAN, KNISS, KOU, SCHARFF, TANAKA, WOLBACH
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATTEST: APPROVED:
______________________________ ____________________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________
City Manager
______________________________
Deputy City Attorney
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