May 14, 2012 5:03 PM
Beau Yarbrough, Staff Writer
HESPERIA • With a new medical marijuana dispensary in town, Hesperia officials are touting a tough policy that could hit both the dispensary and its landlord with fines that can reach $1,500 a day after a 24-day warning period.
“It is an unacceptable use within the city of Hesperia,” city spokeswoman Kelly Malloy said. “While we can’t allow something that the state of California prohibits, we have the authority to ban something that’s (allowed).”
“They don’t have any grounds,” argued A.J. Shaw, CEO of the new High Desert Compassionate Collective at the intersections of Danbury and I Avenues. “We didn’t come here in disguise.”
Shaw believes the law is on his side. On Feb. 29, the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that cities cannot ban medical marijuana dispensaries for being nuisances, after Lake Forest tried to kick the Evergreen Holistic Collective out of town. But the decision contradicts other rulings, including another from the 4th District Court of Appeal that upheld Riverside’s ability to ban dispensaries in that city. (more...)
