City to Seek 10-Month Extension on Marijuana Moratorium

Relatively little discussion was needed at the last meeting of city leaders who imposed a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the Rancho Santa Margarita city limits.

On the agenda for the regularly scheduled City Council meeting Wednesday is an opportunity to carry that moratorium further. The city is asking its council for an extension of the one unanimously passed Sept. 28 as an interim urgency ordinance. The extension would be for 10 months and 15 days, making it a yearlong moratorium. The city also has the option of later extending the moratorium for an additional year.

The city has recently received several inquiries about establishing medical marijuana dispensaries, and city staff discovered two operating in the business park without appropriate permits or approvals. The city needs additional time to research, monitor, and evaluate developments in what has become a rapidly changing area of the law, as well as consider study of land use regulations.

The current temporary ordinance "prohibits the establishment and operation of, as well as the issuance of any permits or entitlements or authorizations for, medical marijuana dispensary uses during this interim period and pending the completion of a study regarding options for the regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries."

Prior to the regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m., the council will meet at 5:30 in a special meeting to discuss changes to the the Request For Proposal and the Scope of Work for Project Management Services for the Chiquita Ridge project.

Both meetings are open to the public. The regular meeting can be heard shortly afterward on the city's website.