Palm Springs Planning Commission Approves & Expands Medical Marijuana Zoning

Yesterday I attended the Palm Springs Planning Commission where one item on the agenda was to consider the request from the city council to restrict medical marijuana collectives and coops to areas zoned M1 and M2. Unlike Desert Hot Springs, the city of Palm Springs is not even considering a ban, and the planning commission's task was simply to look at this as a land-use and zoning issue, with other issues to be discussed by other commissions and the city council itself.

During opening public comments - BTW, rather than filling out request-to-comment cards, the commenters just line up along one side of the auditorium, writing their name and address in a notebook before or after they speak. Anyway, during opening public comments an impressive array of people came up to deliver some great testimonials for medical marijuana. I hope they can make it to Desert Hot Springs for the appropriate meetings on the issue. They spoke to all of the issues: health benefits, crime and zoning. Of course the planning commission only wanted to hear about zoning, but you know how citizens are - always thinking in the real world instead of the fractured world of government. I will single out citizen Brandon Yeager, a very good speaker and medical marijuana patient who looked so super clean-cut in his white shirt, tie and black slacks that all you would have to do is slap a name tag on him and you'd believe he was a Mormon missionary who organized Young Republican Clubs in his spare time.

In the audience I recognized only one other DHS resident, Roger Fisher, who also commented at the DHS study session on medical marijuana. One DHS city staffer was present.

There are seven members on the Palm Springs planning commission, and Chair Larry Hochanandel recused himself from the discussion due to a "family connection."

The staff report said that the commission had three basic choices in dealing with the land-use issue:

1. Permit medical marijuana establishments by conditional user permit (CUP) only, thereby requiring a commission review of every one;
2. Permit them "by right" in certain zones (the city council had suggested M1 and M2); or
3. Ban them as inappropriate land-use anywhere in Palm Springs.

I don't know what sorts of activities short of coal-fired power plants or nuclear waste disposal sites would be completely inappropriate land uses in Palm Springs, but the commission never even went to option 3. Clearly, the city council wanted medical marijuana facilities, and the commissioners all seemed favorably inclined as well. Director of Planning Craig Ewing said he did not know if there was any crime problem around the unlegal marijuana site (no one clarified if it's a dispensary or coop/collective) on Amado. But crime was not an issue for the planning commission. Testimony from public citizens and at least one commissioner is that there is a history of zero problems at Amado. Commissioner Ringlein said she worked for some weeks next door to the Amado site and was not even aware medical marijuana was there until she asked someone why that business had a valet outside all the time. Turned out the "valet" was the security guard.

Some commenters had made the point that segregating medical marijuana to the M1 and M2 zones (which are basically manufacturing zones) would have two negative effects: stigma (it was pointed out that Long's Drug stores are not restricted to M1 and M2 zones) creating a second-class citizen status for the medical marijuana patient, and danger. Patients reported feeling very safe visiting the Amado site because it's in a well-lighted, well-populated area where the police patrol frequently. OTOH, imagine your gray-haired saintly mother having to drive into a warehouse district some evening to buy her medical marijuana. It would be like a neon sign to lurking hoodlums who would recognize her as a lamb to slaughter. OTOH, put it right on Palm Canyon where she can pick up her meds during Village Fest, and all is well. One commissioner did suggest that with all the empty storefronts and slumping business in downtown Palm Springs that something a little more "edgy" could be good for the city. Earlier, one commenter had said that a Paul Stanford (or some name very similar to that) of the Inland Empire was interested opening a museum of the history of hemp and marijuana in Palm Springs.

The commissioners heard the remarks and centered their discussion on which zone(s) would be most beneficial for all. Commissioner Jon Caffery thought that the M1 and M2 zones were not appropriate for medical marijuana. Commissioner Bill Scott agreed, saying that the P zones (Professional) would be the most appropriate (as well as safe) zone. However, in the interests of time he wanted to approve M1 and M2 for now, and then go back and amend it after the city council approved it. Commissioner Doug Donenfeld agredd with Scott. Commissioner Tracy Conrad was in favor allowing them citywide only by CUP, so that the planning commission would know where they were being located. Commissioner Toni Ringlein agreed with her. I would worry that the barrier of the CUP process might discourage medical marijuana sites from being established, so I was pleased when Director Ewing reminded the commmission that the CUP process would cost the applicant a minimum of $3,000 to start, and he thought that might be an insurmountable barrier for a small non-profit.

Finally, a compromise was agreed upon where everyone wins: Commissioner Scott moved that medical marijuana facilities be permitted "by right" in zones M1, M2 and P, AND by CUP in all other non-residential zones. It passed 6-0 (recall that Mr. Hochanandel had recused himself).

THE SPACE

I will go on to report on other matters before the planning commission, but I must say that this was the first time I've been in the Palm Springs city council auditorium, and what a very nice space it is! In my view the best thing was the huge sliding display boards that I've never seen outside a college classroom. All of the plans and drawings for all proposals can be mounted up there before the meeting so when an item comes up for consideration a staffer simply walks up and slides out the appropriate board and, voila, all is there for both the commissioners and public to see. Interested citizens are advised to bring binoculars, however, as these are standard sized blueprints and such, so detail cannot be made out with mere 20/20 vision from the audience.

The sound quality was so excellent in the room that the only way to tell who was speaking was to scan the room looking for the flapping lips. They have permanent and discreet cameras mounted in the room to broadcast the meetings on cable. There's a video monitor in the entryway which can be viewed from outside the building allowing cigarette smokers to keep track of the progress of the meeting until their issue comes up.

The arrangement for the commission was a bit odd. Instead of a U or straight line, the commissioners' dais was angled at one point so that the chair and vice chair sat at one angle while the rest of the commissioners sat in a straight line. This allowed the chair and vice chair to see everyone, but the fellow commissioners had to crane around each other if they wanted to look someone in the face. The city staff sat across the room at a slightly lower level and, if they had name tags at all, I could not see them.

Every commissioner has a touchscreen computer and the desire to speak, make a motion, second a motion or vote is all handled by touch screen. So there are tiny moments of silence as the chair reads his screen and then calls on the appropriate commissioner. The only drawback (if it's a drawback at all) is that the public would not be able to see if a commissioner had requested to speak but was ignored by the chair. I assume, however, that other commissioners could see this and would raise a ruckus as necessary. OTOH, at one point the chair knew someone had seconded a motion but couldn't determine who had done it so there was a half-minute of computer fiddling to get it to show up during which no one simply waved their hand to say "I seconded it." Technology.

Every vote is a silent roll-call via the touchscreen, the results of which are instantly and clearly displayed on the jumbotron when voting finishes. Very helpful for home viewer. I think those watching a DHS city council meeting on TV might have difficulty determining who voted which way sometimes.

OTHER ITEMS

The commission approved a proposal for 3,364 s.f. home to be built at 1740 Pinnacle Point which is an address Google maps doesn't know, but was described as being east-ish of the Bogert Tral neighborhood. The architect described the site as NOT being adjacent to a trailhead.

They approved a proposal for another slab with 9,500 s.f. of retail space in the northeast corner of the Rimrock shopping plaza property. They said the spot is a grassy area now. I don't recall there being as much as 9,500 s.f. of grass there, but I'll look the next time I go by.

They approved a general plan amendment for the vacant area at the corner of Sunrise and Sunny Dunes. It's similar to a previous amendment for that spot which had expired. It calls for seven residential parcels along Sunny Dune and commercial zoning on Sunrise.

Long's Drugs in Smoketree Plaza will be getting a two lane drive-thru. The commissioners were mostly concerned about traffic flow in and out of the drive-thru and whether your average old lady California driver in the biggest SUV you ever saw could negotiate the turning radius as planned. Staff assured the commissioners that she could if she swung wide. One commissioner raised the issue of "homeless-appearing" people he had seen raiding recycling bins behind Long's Drugs. Would it be safe to have a drive-thru at a drug store, he wondered. I love (NOT) this sort of spontaneous free-association thinking that sometimes passes for government. Is there a history of robbery by those who raid recycling bins? Are there any records showing an increase in crime around any of the many drive-thrus in Palm Springs or the Coachella Valley? A drive-thru at a drug store is not some radical, cutting edge thing where the planning commissioners have to worry about every detail. The issues should be only traffic, architecture and parking.

PIERCINGS

Finally, the only story to be reported from this session in the Desert Sun so far: the issue of body piercing at Fit To Be Tyed at 226 North Palm Canyon Drive. In 1998 the city revised the zoning laws to disallow piercings in the areas around downtown. They were to be permitted only in areas zoned "professional." There was a ten year grace period. The ten years are up. One public commenter said that Fit To Be Tyed had been a model business with no problems in the 14 years it has been operating in that location. She said that while the piercing occupied only 10% of the floor space, it produced 50% of the store's income. The business owner, Norman Freedburg, got up to say he didn't know why he couldn't have a piercing business, but acknowledged he had been notified 7 or 8 years ago. He said that he had been told that piercing brings in "the wrong element." That element may be people who spend money, judging from the state of downtown Palm Springs. Mr. Freedburg produced a Polaroid photo of two of his recent satisfied piercing customers, one in her 70s and the other in her 90s. He asked the commission if this was the wrong element. Currently, neither he nor anyone else in the building has a lease because the ownership of the building has recently changed hands. He wanted and got the two-year extension, though, so that a revision to the zoning ordinances could be made that would once again permit piercing downtown.