Pot Pharmacy Has More Hurdles to Jump to Get Permit

BY BILL KOENEKER

An existing pot pharmacy, which is attempting to get a permit to operate in the City of Malibu, has apparently taken a hit as it wends its way through the approval process.
Green Angel Collective was scheduled to go before the planning commission on May 5 for a Conditional Use Permit for the operation of a medical marijuana dispensary in an existing commercial building. The application also contains a request for a variance to operate a medical marijuana dispensary within a 1000 feet of a park.
“The city attorney informed the applicant the variance process cannot be used,” said the city’s Associate Planner Ha Ly.
Instead, the applicant must seek what is called a zone text amendment to change the ordinance. A ZTA must be approved by the planning commission and the city council.
Only after that lengthy process can Green Angel proceed to seek a CUP for its continued operations, according to city officials.
Green Angel is the second pot pharmacy that is seeking to operate legally within the city limits.
PCH Collective, another medical marijuana dispensary, successfully obtained the CUP to operate in Malibu.
The city’s law, which was recently enacted after a nearly two-year moratorium, allows for municipal officials to issue no more than three permits within the city boundaries.
Malibu’s ordinance contains provisions that allow the medical marijuana dispensaries in commercial zones, but requires that they not be sited within 1000 feet of schools, churches, parks and other public-serving facilities.