Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Four-fifths (4/5)
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: John C. Beiers, County Counsel
Subject: Adopt an Interim Urgency Ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on commercial medical cannabis activity within the unincorporated area of San Mateo County, to the full extent authorized under State law.
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Adopt an Interim Urgency Ordinance of the County of San Mateo Board of Supervisors making findings and establishing a temporary moratorium on commercial medical cannabis activity within the unincorporated area of San Mateo County, to the full extent authorized under State law, and waive the reading of the ordinance in its entirety.
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BACKGROUND:
Due to changes in State law explained in detail below, the State's recent issuance of proposed draft regulations regarding commercial cannabis activity, and the State's intention to begin issuing licenses for commercial cannabis activity on January 1, 2018, this moratorium is necessary to avoid a gap in the regulatory framework for medical cannabis. Under current State law and in contrast to previous law on medical cannabis regulation, in the absence of local regulatory requirements, commercial medical cannabis activity may proceed once the State begins issuing licenses. Local authorities have the ability to regulate such activity. Even if the Board were to adopt immediately the concurrently submitted ordinance setting forth a comprehensive cannabis regulatory scheme, the effective date of the ordinance would not be earlier than January 1, 2018, when the State plans to begin issuing licenses. This proposed moratorium would prohibit commercial medical cannabis activity from proceeding until the Board adopts the ordinance, or, if the Board prefers a different form of ordinance, until staff has developed and proposed a revised ordinance, and the Board has adopted such ordinance.
In 1996, the voters of the State of California approved P...
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