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<br />Excerpt of the Draft Minutes from the February 6, 2014 Board of Zoning Adjustments <br />Meeting <br /> <br />Item 7A: Miscellaneous <br />Information on proposed Zoning Code amendments to allow for a Medical Marijuana Dispensary in <br />certain industrial and commercial districts with a CUP. (Barros) <br />* * * * * * * * * * <br />Planner Barros said this item updates the Zoning Code to implement the passage of City of SAan <br />Leandro Ordinance 2013-020, the Medical Marijuana ordinance, which took effect on January 13, 2014. <br />The proposal is being presented for BZA information and input prior to submittal to the Planning <br />Commission on February 20, 2014. The Planning Commission’s recommendation would then go to the <br />City Council, tentatively scheduled for a public hearing at its meeting on March 17, 2014. <br />Planner Barros said definitions for medical marijuana and dispensaries in the proposed amendment reflect <br />language in the ordinance itself. In addition, the basis upon which the dispensaries would be located also <br />aligns with language in the ordinance, including the length of the buffer around sensitive uses. After <br />considerable discussion, Council determined there would be buffers of: <br /> 1,000 feet between dispensaries as well as between a dispensary and public and private schools, <br />public libraries, youth centers, parks and recreation facilities and places of worship <br /> 500 feet around residential zoning districts <br />Planner Barros referred to a color-coded PowerPoint slide indicating the resulting eligible areas for <br />locating dispensaries, noting that zoning in those areas includes: <br /> Industrial General (IG) <br /> Industrial Park (IP) <br /> IG with an Assembly Use overlay (IG-AU) <br /> Commercial Community (CC) <br />Member Daly said he would prefer the 1,000-foot buffer also apply to residential districts, because <br />dispensaries could create significant foot traffic and 500 feet isn’t much distance. Noting the green areas <br />on the map. Vice Chair Palma said she wouldn’t want to see the ordinance any more stringent than it <br />already is, because the eligible area for dispensaries is already ver y small, Planner Barros said she <br />believed the radius around the schools was greater than from the residences. <br />Planner Barros said the Zoning Code also would specify dispensary hours of operation, 9:00 a.m. to <br />7:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday, and indicate that the dispensaries would be subject to performance <br />standards specified in the San Leandro Municipal Code. <br />Vice Chair Palma expressed concern about the concept that a dispensary must be a collective that <br />doesn’t allow non-members, but does not indicate how one becomes a member. As she recalled Council <br />discussions, these dispensaries should be available to people who may be visiting from outside the area <br />and need to purchase medical marijuana. She referred to the concept of Harborside Health Center, which <br />requires only an identification card that allows the owner to buy medical marijuana; it may be a <br />cooperative, she said, but it has no membership fees or membership requirements. Mr. Pio Roda said state <br />law requires dispensaries’ form of organization to be cooperatives and collectives, and it’s up to the <br />cooperative or collective to determine how members are determined. Vice Chair Palma said from the <br />language, it’s unclear; it could be taken to mean people who go to a dispensary to buy medical marijuana