Battle Over Pot Dispensary Intensifies

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Inside the ShowGrow dispensary on Gertrude Place in Santa Ana.
Inside the ShowGrow dispensary on Gertrude Place in Santa Ana.

A Laguna Beach City Council member described the backers of the medical marijuana dispensary Measure KK as mysterious out-of-towners looking to capitalize on the potential for legal marijuana.

“No one has figured out who it is,” Council member Rob Zur Schmiede said at a Village Laguna meeting Monday, Oct. 24. “They’re not from Laguna. They’re doing this to line the pockets of whoever is doing this.”

Midway through the talk, Houston Durand, one of about 40 people in attendance, introduced himself as a Three Arch Bay resident and one of KK’s principal backers.

Durand asked several questions of police Chief Laura Farinella as well as Zur Schmiede, who did not elaborate when asked why city officials rebuffed an earlier offer to collaboratively draft a medical marijuana dispensary measure with proponents.

Proponents gathered signatures to qualify Measure KK for the Nov. 8 ballot. It would repeal the city’s 2009 ban on medicinal marijuana dispensaries and would permit recreational sales if voters legalize marijuana.

The measure’s backers lagged behind their opposition in early fundraising, but two major donors have since stepped up, according to disclosure reports filed with the city clerk this week. Initiative proponents received more than $50,000 in contributions, including $21,400 from two Costa Mesa companies controlled by Durand and altogether $30,000 from Laguna Beach Joint Venture, of Woodland Hills.

A poll of likely voters showed an even split on the measure, within the margin of sampling error.

By comparison, the opposition group Together Laguna Can Defeat Measure KK has raised $27,000 as of Sept. 24, the most recent disclosure filing.

In a later interview, Durand described the other KK donor as a person he has invested with in the last two years on other business deals, including commercial real estate and information technology.

“This is a project we took on because Laguna is our town, where we reside,” said Durand, who said other KK supporters are reluctant to identify themselves, fearing the stigma of a controversial effort.

Kate Clark, a member of the audience, voiced skepticism about the measure’s language, which would grant a dispensary license to a non-profit incorporated before May 15, 2014. “It’s not a fair and open process,” she said. “It makes me suspicious.”

From 250 to 400 customers daily patronize one of 11 medical cannabis dispensaries in Santa Ana, detectives who spoke with the owner reported to Farinella. If voters statewide approve Prop. 64 and legalize recreational marijuana, dispensary traffic will increase, she said. “People want to see what they’re buying, they want to look at the edibles, the drinks, the chocolates. It’s a store,” she said in a later interview.

Zur Schmiede described Measure KK as a threat to community governance, which typically requires public hearings for permits and sets conditions on parking, lighting and hours of operation to minimize neighborhood impact. “It’s an end-run around discretionary review,” he said.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. There is no need for a dispensary in Laguna Beach. Medical marauana is available by delivery to Laguna Beach residents. If you read the newspaper in print/online or watch the news, you understand the cost of the robberies of these cash business, increased police calls, and over all traffic of voyeurs wanting to check it out. Many local cities allowed them in and then closed them all down. Proponents can spend all they want on mailing and yard signs, while the rest of us wait to cast our vote on the matter. Working parents may not be able to attend the City Council meetings, but believe me, we will enact our right to vote.

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