Pot Pharmacy Appeals Planning Commission’s Denial of Permit

• Contends Proximity to Park Should Be Reconsidered

BY BILL KOENEKER

The operator of an existing pot pharmacy has filed an appeal of the Malibu Planning Commission’s denial of a permit to operate the facility and wants the city council to reconsider the matter.
Linda Parsley, in a letter to the city, indicated the planning commission “failed to apply clear intent of the Ordinance 328 as it relates to how to determine the proximity of their leasehold to the reopened Las Flores Canyon Creek Park.”
Parsley, who operates Green Angel Collective, an existing medical marijuana dispensary, noted the commission improperly found that the park had been opened or rebuilt as a park “subsequent to the applicant’s opening and operating as a medical marijuana collective, and improperly denied application for variance.”
In June, the planning panel turned down the request for a variance for a pot pharmacy, currently open, to operate 1000 feet from a park, which is not allowed by city code.
The owners and operators of Green Angel wanted the commissioners to issue a Conditional Use Permit and variance for the business that has been operating for several years in the Old Courthouse Square Plaza, despite being located 1000 feet from Las Flores Canyon Park.
The commission and the assistant city attorney indicated they would deny the request without prejudice and allow the applicants to come back with a zone text amendment to change the law as it currently stands for the 1000-foot radius.
Malibu municipal officials insist the “use variance” sought by Green Angel is prohibited by state law, hence the need to change the city’s zoning code.
During the hearing, Green Angel’s attorney also argued the commission was biased and favored the other pot pharmacy operating in town and alleged that his client could not get a fair and impartial hearing.
He also argued that the 1000-foot radius law makes no sense, if the distance from the park to the building is much further than what’s proverbially called “as the crow flies,” which they tried to demonstrate is the case.
A majority of the commissioners would not budge on the city’s interpretation of the law, saying the use of the word radius clearly defined legislative intent and only a change in the law would allow any kind of deviation.