Posted on Wed, Apr. 18, 2007


Many queasy over pot shop in Templeton

Town's advisory group set to discuss the proposed dispensary Thursday
By Stephen Curran


MEETING THURSDAY

The Templeton Area Advisory Group will discuss a minor use permit for
a proposed medical marijuana dispensary at 3850 Ramada Drive. The
meeting begins at 7 p.m. Thursday in the board room of the Templeton
Community Services District, 206 Fifth St.

Community and business leaders in Templeton say they'll fight a
proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary on the town's north side.

Templeton schools Superintendent Deborah Bowers and others argue that
allowing a dispensary in an industrial park at 3850 Ramada Drive would
undermine Templeton's anti-drug efforts and thrust the community into
an ongoing legal battle over medical marijuana.

Property owner and applicant Kent Connella has proposed a
1,450-square-foot medical marijuana co-op in the single-story complex.

The Templeton Area Advisory Group is slated to discuss Thursday night
whether the proposed business meets a set of guidelines spelled out in
a county ordinance governing medical cannabis dispensaries.

Connella said the dispensar y — which county officials said would be
operated by his son, Austen Connella—is protected under the state
Compassionate Use Act, approved by voters in 1996 to legalize
marijuana for medical use.

Kent Connella was among those who demonstrated last month as federal
agents and sheriff's detectives raided a Morro Bay medical marijuana
dispensary and arrested a security guard on charges he was illegally
selling the substance outside the co-op.

"People should have the right to their medicine," Kent Connella said.
To "give medicine to the sick and suffering is a no-brainer."

But medical marijuana dispensaries have operated in a legal gray area
since the California law was enacted. The federal government has
argued that national laws outlawing all cannabis use trump exceptions
passed at the state level.

Debate over the matter has prompted lengthy public meetings in local
communities.

Scores of supporters have said marijuana provides relief for otherwise
debilitating conditions. Many community leaders, however, remain leery
of such businesses out of concern they may be prosecuted for violating
federal law.

The county Board of Supervisors voted in February to allow such
facilities in unincorporated inland areas such as Templeton but
prohibited them from operating in a downtown business district or
within 1,000 feet of any school, library, playground, park or youth
recreation area.

Kent Connella's property faces Highway 101 in a sparsely developed
area that straddles the Templeton-Paso Robles line. His tenants
include Star Drug Testing, Templeton Uniforms and the Revival Center.

Bill Robeson, the senior county planner processing the application,
said the county is notifying neighbors within 300 feet of the proposed
dispensary site.

County staffers, he said, will consider the advisory group's
recommendation as they weigh whether the business adheres to
provisions described in the ordinance.

"A lot of people don't like the use itself," Robeson said of the
proposed dispensary, "which is understandable. But at this point our
department has to justify our recommendation based on whether the
project is meeting the ordinance standards."

Bowers, advisory group representatives and members of the Templeton
Chamber of Commerce urged supervisors to reject such an ordinance.
They argued that such a business was a poor fit for the community and
would further strain law enforcement personnel.

"Templeton remains a small, semi-rural area where a medical marijuana
facility would be very obvious," Bowers wrote to the county Planning
Commission last month. "… Templeton is a conservative area where
federal law is not ignored."

In a May 16 letter to the county Planning Commission, advisory group
members outlined 14 reasons for their opposition, including concerns
about loitering, illegal sales and safety near the dispensary.

Supervisor Harry Ovitt, who represents Templeton and who voted against
creating a county medical marijuana ID program in November, said he
agrees dispensaries are better suited for urban areas with greater
resources to oversee them.

Rob Rosales, head of the Templeton chamber and vice chairman of the
town's advisory group, said he hoped negative community response to
Connella's plan would prompt the business to consider a location
outside his town.

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