Attachment 1 ORDINANCE 562 AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS AMENDING SECTIONS 10-1.202, 10-1.701 AND 10-1.801 AND ADDING SECTIONS 10-1.706 AND 10-1.804 TO THE LOS ALTOS HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE PROHIBITING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES, MEDICAL MARIJUANA OR CANNABIS CULTIVATION, INCLUDING PERSONAL CULTIVATION, AND ALL COMMERCIAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA OR CANNABIS OPERATIONS WITHIN THE TOWN LIMITS WHEREAS, in 1996, the voters of the State of California approved Proposition 215 (known as the Compassionate Use Act ("CUA")), adding section 11362.5 to the California Health & Safety Code; and WHEREAS, on January 1, 2004, the State Legislature enacted the "Medical Marijuana Program 11 ("MMP"), codified as Health & Safety Code sections 11362.7 to 11362.83, clarifying the scope of the CUA and establishing a voluntary program for identification cards issued by counties for qualified patients and primary caregivers, and provide criminal immunity to qualified patients and primary caregivers for certain activities involving medical marijuana, including the collective or cooperative cultivation of medical marijuana; and WHEREAS, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center, Inc. (2013) 56 Cal.4th 729, that the CUA and the MMP do not preempt local ordinances that completely and permanently ban medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives, and cooperatives; and WHEREAS, in Mara! v. City of Live Oak (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 975, the Third District Court of Appeal held, based on Inland Empire, that there was no right to cultivate medical marijuana and that a city could implement and enforce a complete ban on this activity, including a ban on personal cultivation; and WHEREAS, on October 9, 2015, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bills 243 and 266 ahd Senate Bill 643 (collectively known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act or "MMRSA"), which taken together create a broad state regulatory and licensing system governing the cultivation, testing, and distribution of medical marijuana, the manufacturing of marijuana products, and physician recommendations for medical marijuana, and provide immunity to marijuana businesses operating with both a state license and a local permit; and WHEREAS, while the new legislation expressly preserves local control over medical marijuana facilities and land uses, including the authority to prohibit all medical marijuana businesses and cultivation, newly-added Health & Safety Code section 11362.777, subdivision (c)(4) provides that if a city does not have a land use regulation or ordinance regulating or prohibiting marijuana cultivation in place, either expressly or otherwise under principles of permissive zoning, or chooses not to administer a conditional permit program under that section,
then, commencing March 1, 2016, the State Department of Food and Agriculture will beconie the sole licensing authority for marijuana cultivation in that jurisdiction; and WHEREAS, medical marijuana and cannabis businesses, dispensaries, commercial operations, and delivery operations are not listed in the Zoning Code as either permitted or conditionally permitted land uses and are, therefore, prohibited under the Town's permissive zoning provisions, as set forth in Section 10-1.309, subdivision (a) of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, "agriculture" is defined in the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code as "animal husbandry, livestock farming, flower growing, crop and tree farming, and viticulture" and is a permitted use throughout the Town, and the growing and cultivation of medical marijuana or cannabis could be classified as "crop farming;" and WHEREAS, many California communities have experienced adverse impacts and negative secondary effects from medical marijuana establishments and cultivation sites, including hazardous construction, unsafe electrical wiring, noxious odors and fumes affecting neighboring properties and businesses, increased crime in and around such land uses, and the diversion of medical marijuana to minors; and WHEREAS, it is reasonable to conclude that medical marijuana dispensaries, marijuana cultivation facilities, commercial medical marijuana or cannabis operations could cause similar adverse impacts on the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Town of Los Altos Hills; and WHEREAS, it is in the interests of the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Town of Los Altos Hills to prohibit, in express terms, medical marijuana and cannabis dispensaries, cultivation, and commercial operations; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the Town of Los Altos Hills conducted a public hearing on January 6, 2016 and recommended prohibiting cannabis cultivation and commercial operations but permitting the delivery of medical cannabis to qualified individuals; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills conducted public hearings on January 27, 2016 and February 18, 2016, accepted public comment, waived the first reading and introduced the ordinance prohibiting cannabis cultivation and commercial operations but permitting the delivery of medical cannabis to qualified individuals; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills finds that this project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to "general exemptions" described in Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, since the ordinance would not have any significant effects on the environment. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills does;hereby ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION I. FINDINGS. Based on the entirety of the record as described above, the City Council for the Town of Los Altos Hills hereby makes the following findings: 1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct and made a part of this Ordinance. 2. This project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to "general exemptions" described in Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, since the ordinance would not have any significant effects on the environment. 3. The proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments are consistent with the adopted General Plan because the prohibited uses are not compatible with the low density, semi-rural atmosphere of the community. None of the amendments will conflict with or impede achievement of any of the objectives, goals, policies, programs, or general land use designations established in the General Plan and are compatible with such General Plan objectives, policies, general land uses, and programs. SECTION II. AMENDMENTS. The City Council hereby amends the following sections of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code to read as follows. Sections and subsections that are not amended by this ordinance are not included below, and shall remain in full force and effect. 1. Section 10-1.202 Designated. is hereby amended by adding the following definitions placed in alphabetical order: 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 marijuana. "Cannabis" also means marijuana as defined by Section 11018 of the Health and Safety Code as enacted by Chapter 1407 of the Statutes of 1972. "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 chapter, "cannabis" does not mean "industrial hemp" as defined by Section 81000 of the Food and Agricultural Code or Section 11018. 5 of the Health and Safety Code. Cannabis cultivation means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, or trimming of cannabis.
Cannabis delivery operations means the commercial transfer of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products from a dispensary, up to an amount determined by the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation to a primary caregiver or qualified patient as defined in Section 11362.7 of the California Health and Safety Code, or a testing laboratory. "Delivery" also includes the use by a dispensary of any technology platform owned and controlled by the dispensary, or independently licensed under the state that enables qualified patients or primary caregivers to arrange for or facilitate the commercial transfer by a licensed dispensary of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products. Commercial cannabis activity includes cultivation, possession, manufacture, processing, storing, laboratory testing, labeling, distribution, or sale of medical cannabis or a medical cannabis product. Dispensary means a facility where medical cannabis, medical cannabis products, or devices for the use of medical cannabis or where medical cannabis products are offered, either individually or in any combination, for retail sale, including an establishment that delivers, pursuant to express authorization by local ordinance, medical cannabis and medical cannabis products as part of a retail sale. 2. Section 10-1.701 Primary uses permitted (R-A), is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 10-1.701 Primary uses permitted (R-A). The following primary uses shall be permitted in the Residential-Agricultural District: (a) Primary dwellings; and (b) Agriculture, except those uses identified as prohibited under Section 10-1. 706. 3. Section 10-1.706 Prohibited uses, is hereby added to read as follows: Section 10-1. 706 Prohibited uses. The following uses are prohibited in the Residential-Agricultural District (R-A): (a) (b) Medical marijuana or cannabis cultivation, including cultivation for personal use; All commercial medical marijuana or cannabis activities except delivery by legally licensed operators; ( c) Medical marijuana or cannabis dispensaries; ( d) Processing of medical marijuana or cannabis;
4. Section 10-1.801 Primary uses permitted (OSR), is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 10-1.801 Primary uses permitted (OSR). The following primary uses shall be permitted in the Open Space Reserve District: (a) Agricultural uses, including horticulture and grazing, except those uses identified as prohibited under Section 10-1.804. (b) Forest preserves; and ( c) Other open space uses. 5. Section 10-1.804 Prohibited uses, is hereby added to read as follows: Section 10-1.804 Prohibited uses. The following uses are prohibited in the Open Space Reserve District (OSR): (a) (b) Medical marijuana or cannabis cultivation, including cultivation for personal use; All commercial medical marijuana or cannabis activities except delivery by legally licensed operators; ( c) Medical marijuana or cannabis dispensaries; ( d) Processing of medical marijuana or cannabis; SECTION III. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase hereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable. SECTION IV. EFFECTIVE DATE AND PUBLICATION. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after adoption. Within fifteen days after the passage of this ordinance the City Clerk shall cause this ordinance or a summary thereof to be published once, with the names of those City Councilmembers voting for or against it in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Los Altos Hills, as required by law.
INTRODUCED: PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: BY: ---------- Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorney