City of Vallejo Veto Referendum Targeting City Council Medical Marijuana Ordinance (2015)

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A veto referendum question targeting a city ordinance governing medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) was not put on the ballot for Vallejo voters in Solano County, California, in 2015. The city council rescinded the targeted marijuana ordinance themselves, precluding the necessity of an election.

On May 26, 2015, the Vallejo City Council voted to approve a regulatory ordinance allowing for the operation of four medical marijuana dispensaries—one in each quadrant of the city—that would be subject to local regulation, including prohibitions against MMDs within 600 feet of schools, daycare centers, religious centers and other "sensitive areas." A group of medical marijuana dispensary owners and advocates launched a veto referendum petition to put the city's ordinance before voters, giving them a chance to overturn it. The group collected enough signatures to suspend the ordinance and force the city council to either repeal it or put it before voters. The city council rescinded the ordinance and enacted another ordinance that was designed to allow about 12 dispensaries to operate within the city.

Second ordinance and referendum petition

The second ordinance was adopted by the city council through collaboration with some dispensary owners, medical marijuana patients, city officials, community members, and labor advocates. It was designed to allow dispensaries to continue operating if they could show that they were given a tax certificate before the city's 2013 moratorium and that the dispensary had paid all required local and state taxes. It also prohibited any dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of a school and 2,000 feet of other dispensaries. Owners and supporters of dispensaries that were not allowed to operate by the final ordinance launched another referendum petition against it. Petitioners turned in 8,700 signatures to the city clerk.

Text of measure

Full text

The full text of the ordinance enacted by the city that is targeted by this referendum petition is available here.

Support

Note: Those who opposed the city's marijuana ordinance and supported the veto referendum effort against it are referred to as "supporters" in this article.

A group called Re-Start Vallejo ran the signature petition drive to qualify this referendum for the ballot.

A group called Measure C Eleven opposed the city's ordinance. This was the group behind two initiatives that were designed to allow a greater number of MMDs to operate in the city.

Supporters of this referendum effort against the city's ordinance argued that limiting the number of MMDs in the city to four would make medicine less available to patients, encourage the black market to continue to thrive, and unnecessarily curtail the city's tax revenue from medical marijuana sales.

Opposition

Note: Those who supported the city's marijuana ordinance and opposed the veto referendum effort against it are referred to as "opponents" in this article.

The city council voted to close down all MMDs in the city in January 2015. City officials cited the fact that MMDs were not legal in the city because its zoning ordinances did not allow "medical marijuana dispensary" as a use, and none of the operating MMDs had petitioned for a zoning code amendment or a variance. The city also said that the dispensaries were unregulated. The city approved its own ordinance in May 2015, designed to allow up to four MMDs to operate in the city. The city planned to issue operating permits beginning in August 2015, a deadline that may get pushed back because of this veto referendum effort. City officials argued that their ordinance, as opposed to the two initiatives proposed by MMD supporters, would properly restrict the marijuana industry, allowing patients access to medical marijuana while providing safety and comfort to parents, students and all residents of the city.

In a statement responding to the recall efforts that were launched against four council members, including the mayor and vice mayor, Mayor Osby Davis said, "We have unanimously passed a city ordinance to allow and control the operation, regulation and taxation of four medical marijuana dispensaries. This will end the proliferation of illegal marijuana dispensaries next to schools, parks and family oriented businesses. Patients will continue to have access to medical marijuana in a regulated environment and voter approved Measure "C" revenue will continue to grow."

Background

Timetable

• November 8, 2011: City voters approved medical marijuana taxes according to Measure C.

• April 2013: The Vallejo City Council voted to enact a year-long moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) to clarify and re-articulate to the public that MMDs did not constitute a legal land use.

• April 2014: Council members extended the moratorium through April 2015.

• January 13, 2015: The city council voted five against two to devote resources to shutting down unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries in the city and directed staff to refuse tax payments from MMDs and cease to issue or renew business licenses for marijuana related businesses. The city council also voted to have city staff develop a regulatory ordinance which would allow a limited number of regulated dispensaries.

• March 2015: The city released for public comment a draft of a proposed ordinance that would allow the operation of just two MMDs within the city.

• April 16, 2015: The second initiative seeking to allow MMDs was submitted to the city.

• April 28, 2015: The city council rejected the tax payments of 11 dispensaries that tried to pay Measure C taxes in protest of the council's ban on MMDs.

• May 2015: The city requested declaratory relief from the courts to decide the legality of both initiatives.

• May 26, 2015: The city adopted a regulatory ordinance allowing the operation of four medical marijuana dispensaries.

• May 27, 2015: Opponents of the city's ordinance request an official copy of the ordinance be delivered to them by this date, intending a referendum petition drive against it.

• June 9, 2015: MMD advocates served "intent to recall" papers to mayor, vice mayor and two council members.

• June 24, 2015: City officials opened up the application process to MMD owners that want to try to claim one of the four dispensaries allowed by the city's ordinance.

• June 25, 2015: Referendum petitioners submitted signatures for a veto referendum effort against the city's ordinance.

• June 26, 2015: City officials halted the application process for MMDs to wait until signature verification for the referendum is complete.

• July 21, 2015: Facing a certified referendum measure, the city council members rescinded their ordinance themselves, precluding the necessity of a referendum election.

• July 28, 2015: The city council enacted another medical marijuana ordinance that was designed to allow about 12 dispensaries to operate within the city.

Legality and Measure C tax issues

See also: City of Vallejo Marijuana Tax, Measure C (November 2011)

The city of Vallejo had not allowed medical marijuana dispensaries as legal land uses prior to 2015. Taxes were collected, however, from certain dispensaries. In other words, according to the city's zoning laws, MMDs had never legally operated within the city. However, under the city's ordinance enacted on May 26, 2015, four MMDs were set to be able to operate legally. The four MMDs had not been selected as of January 2015. City officials had a goal of selecting those applying for the four spots by July or August 2015. However, the existing unregulated dispensaries threatened a referendum against the city's ordinance and began a recall effort against some of the council members.

In 2011, about 76.51 percent of city voters approved Measure C, authorizing the city to impose a 10 percent tax on the gross receipts of marijuana dispensaries, with a base tax of $500. Measure C did not legalize or regulate the operation of MMDs.

This left the city collecting taxes from illegal operations and prompted the city's community and economic development director, city attorney, and planning manager to recommend the city council to take one of two steps:

1. Allow and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries; or
2. Expressly and specifically prohibit MMDs and clarify this prohibition to the public.

When Measure C was approved in 2011, the city did not dedicate resources to enforcing the zoning laws that precluded MMDs. Starting in April 2013, the city approved a series of year-long moratoriums clarifying that MMDs were not legal land uses. In January 2015, citing what it called a surge in MMD activity, the city took active steps to shut down the dispensaries operating within the city. Beginning on January 13, 2015, city officials directed staff to turn away any MMD owners seeking to make tax payments and to refuse to issue or renew business licenses for any marijuana-related business. On February 15, 2015, and again in April 2015, the city refused to accept submitted tax payments from dispensaries in order to remain consistent with the policy.

For more details about the background of this measure, click here.

Declaratory relief

According to legal documents filed in March 2015, the city contended that the first of two initiatives sponsored by MMD supporters seeking to authorize the operation of more dispensaries was “facially invalid on both constitutional and statutory grounds, and if garnered sufficient signatures and the voters approved it, would prevent its enforcement.”

Attorneys representing the city also based an argument on the state law that makes it illegal for any local initiative to “name or identify any private corporation to perform any function or to have any power or duty,” arguing that the first pro-marijuana initiative was designed to give MMDs the power to operate in the face of federal and local law. The lawsuit also focused on the initiative's effect on local variance law. Finally, the city's lawsuit also claimed the initiative breaks state law by “(singling) out certain parcels of land for special benefit.”

The city also filed a request for a declaratory relief judgment from the court concerning the legality of the second initiative filed by MMD supporters.

Measure C Eleven, the group consisting of the 11 MMDs who alleged that they were in compliance with registration and required taxation, insisted a ballot title and summary be provided for the latest initiative so that the group could begin collecting signatures. Referring to the city's legal request to reject the initiatives, James Anthony, an attorney representing Measure C Eleven, said, “Such blatant disregard for democratic process, undermining the rights of voters, smacks of Jim Crow tactics for denying minorities the vote. You are better than this. Debate the issues with us (and) disagree with us. But do not cheat and violate the law. That simply violates the whole civil relationship of trust in law and order and the democratic process.”

City's ordinance

In March 2015, the city released a draft of a proposed city ordinance that would allow the operation of two MMDs within the city. The ordinance was presented to the public to allow for input and feedback. After public input and some amendments, the city adopted a final draft of the regulatory ordinance allowing the operation of four medical marijuana dispensaries on May 26, 2015. The ordinance was immediately targeted by this referendum effort.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in California

To successfully qualify this referendum for the ballot and suspend the city ordinance until the election, petitioners needed to collect valid signatures equal to 10 percent of the votes cast by city voters in the last gubernatorial election within 30 business days of the approval of the city ordinance on May 26, 2015. On June 25, 2015, referendum petitioners submitted about 9,000 signatures. Since more than 5,600—10 percent of the registered voters in the city—were verified by the Solano County registrar of voters, the ordinance was suspended and the city council had to either rescind it directly or put it before voters. On July 21, 2015, the city council rescinded the ordinance. On July 28, 2015, the city council enacted another ordinance that was designed to allow about 12 dispensaries to operate within the city.

Related measures

• City of Vallejo Marijuana Tax, Measure C (November 2011) a

Similar 2015 measures

1. City of Riverside Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Initiative, Measure A (June 2015)d
2. Town of Yucca Valley Medical Marijuana Dispensary Authorization and Regulation Act, Measure X (June 2015)d
3. Mendocino County “Mendocino Cannabis Commission” Initiative (November 2015)

Recent news

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City of Vallejo Veto Referendum Targeting City Council Medical Marijuana Ordinance (2015) - Google News

See also

• Mayor and city council recall, Vallejo, California (2016)
• Local marijuana on the ballot
• Solano County, California ballot measures
• Local ballot measure elections in 2015

External links

Suggest a link

• Solano County Elections Office website
• Save Measure C website
• Full text of the city's MMD ordinance approved on May 26, 2015

Additional reading

• Times Herald, "Vallejo’s medical marijuana dispensaries will attempt to pay Measure C taxes," February 18, 2015