A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge will decide Tuesday
whether to shut down Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary even as
the community debate over the collective ramps up.
A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge will decide Tuesday whether to shut down Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary even as the community debate over the collective ramps up.
Superior Court Judge Mary Jo Levinger is slated to rule in San Jose on the city’s request for a preliminary injunction that would mandate immediate closure of MediLeaf, a cannabis collective that opened Nov. 9 at First Street and Westwood Drive without a business license.
The city is also seeking an injunction that would permanently close MediLeaf for operating without a business license and for operating in an area that is not zoned for dispensaries.
If the temporary injunction is granted, the dispensary would not be able to open again until the matter of the permanent injunction was decided – a process that will involve a trial – according to Andy Faber, an attorney for the City of Gilroy.
MediLeaf staff have said they received legal advice stating that they do not need a business license because they are a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation. However, city officials said that although nonprofits do not have to pay a licensing fee, they must obtain a business license. For example, nonprofits such as local churches, the Salvation Army and Goodwill do not have to pay licensing fees, but all of them had to go through a licensing process.
Nonetheless, Levinger denied the city a temporary restraining order Nov. 23 – a move that did not come as a surprise to city officials, as restraining orders often are used to maintain the status quo. Neil Forrest, who serves as a director for MediLeaf along with Patricia Kuburovich and Goyko “Batzi”, said Thursday that MediLeaf would comply with any court decision.
MediLeaf received attention for the third consecutive City Council meeting Monday when Glen View Elementary School parent club president Karin Clements showed the council a petition with 243 signatures supporting the council’s stance to shut down the dispensary.
Eric Madigan, MediLeaf’s ombudsman, presented a document during the same meeting that gave statistics on the dispensary’s membership. As of Dec. 4, MediLeaf had 608 registered members, including 335 Gilroy residents and 76 members older than 65 years of age, according to the document. Madigan also estimated that Gilroy members who used to go to the Oakland-based Harborside dispensary save nearly $21 in gas costs by going to MediLeaf. He estimated that Gilroy members can save up to $100 per month in fuel and cannabis costs. He also said the dispensary will provide tax revenue for the city, although he did not provide specific numbers.
“I hope we can get past the legalities,” Madigan said Monday. “I think we can.”
At the meeting, Councilman Craig Gartman requested that the council discuss the way in which the city has processed planning documents, including those pertaining to the dispensary. Gartman has contended that city staff has wrongly handled MediLeaf’s application process by rejecting the collective’s business license application outright rather than allowing zoning and licensing issues to be discussed openly at recent council meetings. However, City Administrator Tom Haglund said during Monday’s council meeting that the council weighed in on the matter when it voted 4-3 Oct. 12 to reject an ordinance that would have created for zoning laws for the dispensary.
Several council members said they did not want to revisit the MediLeaf issue and wanted to move on.
“We’ve spoken,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said. “We’ve done what needs to be done.”
City Attorney Linda Callon urged council members not to discuss MediLeaf’s zoning and licensing issues publicly because the matter is in litigation, although she said it would be fine to discuss planning documents in general.
In the end, council members voted 6-1, with Gartman dissenting, to discuss the processing of planning documents in general during its annual retreat next month rather than discussing matters that solely pertain to MediLeaf.
Gilroy’s City Council had previously voted in closed session 4-0 on Nov. 16 to allow Callon to pursue legal action to shut down the dispensary. Council members Gartman, Perry Woodward and Peter Arellano boycotted the vote because they felt that zoning and permitting issues, which Callon said pertained to the litigation, should be discussed in public.
Last week, Madigan provided the Dispatch a tour of the facility, showing areas where its cannabis is sold, bagged and bar-coded so that it is easily traceable.
Patients are required to show dispensary operators a doctor’s note, Madigan said, and security guards demonstrated how they guide patients out of the lobby.
All of the dispensary’s cannabis is grown from members of the collective and most of it comes from Gilroy residents, Madigan said.
“I’ve been really impressed by the quality and caliber of our cultivators,” he said.
A white board inside the room where the cannabis is sold lists the different marijuana strains on offer – such as indica for body ailments, sativa for anxiety and stress, and hybrids of the two.
Within those categories, there are lists of specific strains, many of which have exotic titles such as Jack the Ripper and Purple Goo. Most of those names have been around for many years, Madigan said, before cannabis dispensaries were legalized. A sheet of paper that describes the various strains lists the THC count in each variety.
Madigan and general manager Javier Patterson oversee the day-to-day operations of MediLeaf, Madigan said. Meanwhile, Forrest and Patricia Kuburovich oversee client intake, and director Batzi Kuburovich works on obtaining funds and dealing with zoning issues, Forrest and Madigan said.
As the city and MediLeaf directors await Tuesday’s court hearing, Forrest said he appreciated Gartman’s concern about speeding up the processing of city documents for MediLeaf and other businesses. Businesses have to pay rent and day-to-day expenses as they await a city’s decision on permits and licenses, Forrest said.
“It’s a financial hardship on the people who are trying to start something new,” he said. “You only have so much capital to work with.”
