Tuesday’s City Council meeting wasn’t the final nail in the coffin for San Jose’s thriving medical marijuana industry. But the council’s decision to implement a land use and regulatory program starting Oct. 27 will be a major step toward a cap of 10 collectives within city limits.
Angelique Gaeta, an assistant city manager, sent out a memo Wednesday saying that on Nov. 1, City Manager Debra Figone is expected to provide “the date, time and manner for collectives to submit applications to register with the city as potentially one of the 10 collectives in San Jose.”
Sixty days after Figone’s update is made public, city code enforcement will start compliance inspections. “Should enforcement action be necessary,” Gaeta writes, “the Administration will focus its resources on Collectives that cannot comply with the Ordinances, are not in compliance with other conditions of the San Jose Municipal Code, and/or are creating a public nuisance.”
On Wednesday, collective supporters rallied at City Hall to announce their intentions to put together a referendum to appeal the ordinances. According to a Mercury News report, “activists will have 30 days to gather 30,050 valid signatures—8 percent of the city’s registered voters—needed to qualify a referendum that would repeal the ordinances.”
One of the first collective operators in San Jose, Dave Hodges, has good reason to get behind the referendum. City officials told Metro that anyone who has not paid the Measure U tax on collectives will not be eligible to be included in the 10 collectives allowed to operate in San Jose. Hodges has never paid the tax since it went into effect in March. Gaeta’s memo reiterates that not paying the tax could be used as a reason for disqualifying a collective from being included in the cap.
Below are some of the Oct. 27 ordinance conditions included in Gaeta’s letter:
“As a reminder, the Ordinances provide that Collectives can be located in the following zones:
1) Commercial General;
2) Downtown Primary Commercial;
3) Light Industrial (except Light Industrial areas located within the Enterprise Zone or other incentive zones); and
4) Combined Industrial Commercial.
“Collectives cannot be located as follows:
1) Within 600 feet of public or private schools;
2) Within 500 feet of child daycares, churches with child daycares, community/recreation centers, parks, libraries, substances abuse rehabilitation centers or other Collectives;
3) Within 150 feet of residentially zoned property;
4) On ground floors of buildings within Downtown Primary Commercial zones; and
5) On any floor of shopping centers located on a parcel or parcels totaling over 40 acres in size.”
Chief Debra,
Did you not pay attention to the one guy crime spree in your city? Pot members transporting killers out of the city all for tax dollars you want to get from the illegal companies!
If I were in the Vietnamese community I would be at city hall protesting because you want to increase tax revenue over the value of life!
My God, San Jose crime is approaching Oakland! I can see why the COP did not want to come here and be your puppet. New Orleans would be happy at our crime rate.
God help us all!
Are you really this silly?
Well then close all the banks too because those guys stole ALL of our money, savings, and pension funds. One bad apple does not make a person cut down the whole tree. Most medical cannabis organizations are positive forces in their community and the RAND corporation just released a study saying dispensaries reduce crime in neighborhoods up to 60%. Do the homework before jumping off the deep end.
Mickey & Duh. Well Duh sums it up if that is the besy you can do, get off the wacky weed that you the mayor, PO and the chief seem to like so much.
Amazing how in a recession the city has found a way to actually add businesses, obtain extra revenue and now they want to take it away? As I’ve said in other posts before, residents in San Jose will ALWAYS find a way to obtain their marijuana (legal or not) and with the recent LA Times article ( http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-marijuana-20110924,0,3679305.story ) showing how the only time dispensaries increase crime is when they shut down. The city is truly shooting itself in the foot with these new regulations. I hope the voters get smart and override the city council’s decision on this one.
The city is broke and laying off workers and the city is refusing free money and jobs for unemployed.. Let’s hear it for our fiscally irresponsible San Jose elected morons. Vote them all out of office.
I actually live near one of these collectives and there are more crimes happening on my street lately.